The Perfect Mother
by slytherin-nette
Summary: The final TPG/TPW installment. In which Jaimee "Harry" Potter learns, once and for all, that all Malfoys really do get what they want. Even if, sometimes, they need to make a few mistakes along the way to get it. Hilarity, madness and family fun ensues!
1. Prologue

**Title: The Perfect Mother**

**Author: **slytherin-nette

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters you recognize from the HP books in this story. All I own is the plot and the OCs. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling.

**Full Summary: **In which Jaimee "Harry" Potter finally learns, once and for all, that all Malfoys really do get what they want. Even if, sometimes, they need to make a few mistakes along the way to get it. Of course, hilarity, madness and good ol' family fun ensues. TPG/TPW Universe, Next Generation Fic. :D

**Pairings: **DM/femHP, GrM/?, GbM/?, HM/?, Many others. :D

**Timeline:** Assume the prologue happens when the twins are 7 and Hale is 5. After that, there is a time lapse and the rest of the story happens during Garrett & Gabriel's seventh year / Hale's fifth year.

**Warnings: **This is a **NEXT GENERATION **story based on the characters and universe of TPG/TPW so hopefully, you've all read those two stories first before attempting to read this one. Also, be warned of slow updates on this story as I will be focusing most of my attention on my other two stories too. :D

**A/N**: And now…Presenting the _FINAL _installment to The Perfect Series! :D

I finally got around to writing this! Very sorry it took ages but I've just been swamped with so much work these days… Not to mention the fact that I'm also writing TWO other stories on the side. Waaaah! T_T Anyway, I don't expect this fic to be long. 10 chapters at most. Enjoy the story! :D

* * *

**Chapter 1 – Prologue**

40-year-old Marge Merryweather, Headmistress of Littlesworth Preparatory Academy, considered herself to be a fairly formidable woman – especially when it came to dealing with children.

Littlesworth was an _exclusive _preparatoryschool, relied upon by the most prestigious families. As young as the children entering the school were – ranging from ages 5 to 10 – it was _crucial _that their years in the school were spent on molding them into future, well-bred and _cultured _young adults.

Having taught in this very institution for more than twenty years, she believed herself knowledgeable in every little thing that happened in her school – and more importantly, she knew _every single thing _that happened amongst her students. Some, if not most of her students, she knew were the sons or daughters of the richest families in London and were very much normal children.

Some of the kids, like the occasional bad apples she's seen over the years, were quite difficult to deal with and required more attention than the others – nothing a little proper discipline couldn't fix. Littlesworth _was, _after all, one of the top preparatory schools for children in England and it certainly wouldn't dowell to have her students acting like the mere common peasants out along the streets.

_However._

Marge's dry, red-painted lips curled into a displeased scowl as she gazed down over her horn-rimmed glasses at the three, innocently smiling blonde children seated across from her in her office.

_These three…Are an entirely different case altogether._

She pressed her lips together in a line and began tapping her pen impatiently against the table.

"You three…Malfoys."

One by one, the seemingly angelic faces of three platinum blondes – two identical twin boys and one girl with her long hair up in pigtails - all blinked up at her, their eyes twinkling with unspoken mischief. She glared at them, her heavily outlined eyes narrowing as she studied their expressions.

"Would either of you three care to explain to me what happened this morning?"

A slight movement caught her eye and her gaze riveted to the blonde in the middle of the group – none other than seven-year-old _Gabriel Harry Malfoy_, easily the most polite of all three children. He took heed of his brother and sister nudging him from either side and began to speak up.

"If you'd allow me to elucidate further the situation, Headmistress—"

Marge felt her left eye twitch involuntarily in irritation.

"Elucidate?"

Gabriel blinked once as though in surprise and gave her a politely confused smile.

"Elucidate, Headmistress…It's a verb that's quite synonymous to '_explain'—"_

_ "I know what 'elucidate' means, Mister Malfoy! Do not get smart with me! Speak your age!"_

She heard a definite snigger coming from the identical blonde seven-year-old beside Gabriel – his smirking brother – but she chose to ignore him and settled her glare on the former instead.

"Well?"

Gabriel smiled pleasantly at her again, his emerald green eyes sparkling with amusement.

"What I'd like to '_explain' _is that—"

Marge heard another poorly muffled sound of laughter coming from Gabriel's sister seated at his left but the seven-year-old continued speaking before Marge could even address her reaction.

"—our fellow students obviously must have _misinterpreted _what they saw today out in the playground. They were quite hysterical saying they saw Garrett, Hailene and I coming to school on—"

"You were seen _FLYING _into the school grounds on _BROOMSTICKS!" _Marge's nostrils flared with anger and her eyes narrowed again as they fixed sharply on the twins' identical, wide smiles.

The two boys were certainly a striking pair, she'd give them that. With their unique shade of silver blonde hair and very bright green eyes, it was almost tempting to let the matter slide but when Gabriel attempted to speak up again, Marge broke him off before he could even try to say anything.

"You _three _were seen by no less than _three _of your classmates this morning – _FLYING _up over the school on broomsticks!" She slammed her palm against the table and caused the twins to wince. She shoved her glasses higher onto her nose when they were about to slip and turned to their sister.

"Miss Malfoy…Would _you _care to explain for your brothers, instead…?"

Like her two brothers, _Hailene Antoinette Malfoy_'s hair was silver blonde but her eyes were a light shade of gray – near silver. Her features were exceptionally beautiful, the face of an angel indeed. She met Marge's flushed features with slightly wincing but nevertheless, innocent smile that would have made even the harshest judge relent. Marge, however, was certainly no judge and she answered this with another suspicious sneer of growing contempt before leaning back against her seat.

"Suspicious…Suspicious indeed…I've had my eye on you three for quite some time now."

Marge paused and slowly, she reached into the bottom drawer of her desk, pulling out three thick folders. Ignoring all three children's confused looks at each other, she placed all three folders separately onto her desk and opened the first one, holding it up so that they could read the first page.

"_Garrett Draco Potter Malfoy…_" She read out loud for them, instantly causing Garrett – the oldest among the three seated in front of her – to stiffen in shock and glare at her in obvious dislike.

Marge glared at him over her glasses and sneered back, flicking her gaze back to their files.

"I have _all _of your school records here, actually…And…" She placed Garrett's folder back onto the table and picked up Gabriel's instead, flipping over it briefly and frowning as she read its contents.

"It seems you three have been giving your teachers quite the strangest experiences lately…Certainly stranger than all the other cases I've ever witnessed in my years as Headmistress here…" She paused and looked up at them again, feeling a surge of satisfaction when she saw that the three blondes seemed to have lost their amusement now and were fidgeting around in nervousness.

Setting the folders back down, she eyed them carefully, noting their uneasy expressions.

"Is there something about you three that I should know…?"

When neither Gabriel nor Garrett seemed inclined to say anything, Hailene finally spoke up since the first time they had entered the room. She turned to Marge and gave her an imploring look.

"We're sorry! We didn't mean to! Mommy or Daddy weren't home and the house-elves—"

Marge's eyes narrowed and her face began to blotch purple in growing anger.

"Exactly what are…_House-elves…_Miss Malfoy?"

Hailene instantly looked as though she wanted to cry and take back her words but Garrett interrupted before she could say anything else, looking up at Marge and giving her a disdainful sneer.

"Why do we even have to tell you _anything…? _You're nothing but a filthy muggle!"

Gabriel and the Headmistress' eyes both widened at the same time but while Gabriel's had widened because of shock, Marge's had widened with a mixture of both confusion and shocked insult.

"_YOUNG MAN! WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?"_

Hailene reached up and slapped her palm over her forehead while Gabriel shook his head.

"Garrett, we're not supposed to say anything—"

Garrett's sneer widened as though he hadn't heard him and he looked up at Marge with a smug expression on his features. "I called you a _muggle…_It's a term used for those with no magic—"

Highly irritated at the seven-year-old's impertinence, Marge interrupted him with a low growl.

"_WHY YOU DISRESPECTFUL, INSOLENT LITLE BRAT—"_

"_Headmistress Merryweather! I'm so sorry to keep you waiting!"_

Pausing right in the middle of attempting to reach over the table and grab a smirking Garrett Malfoy by his collar, Marge managed to look up just as the doors to her office opened and a tall, black-haired woman came rushing into the room, her lithe frame covered by a long, simple black cloak.

The ends of the cloak seemed to flow out magically behind her and for a minute, Marge stared in bewilderment at her. She watched as the young woman slipped the black cloak off and slung it on her arm when she entered, causing the Headmistress to gape even more at her very unique outfit.

_What in the world—_

Though the woman's frame was slight – tall and slender – the clothes that adorned her body were made of the most interesting material Marge had ever seen. The fabric was thick, very durable and glistened with an elegant glow. A strange symbol was emblazoned onto the fabric's front. She wore a pair of thick leather boots and her hair, long and black, was piled loosely on top of her head.

She was remarkably beautiful; even Marge couldn't deny that. But there was a certain aura or strangeness about her that the Headmistress quite didn't understand. And she certainly didn't like it.

"Ah…Let me guess—"

The scowling Headmistress recognized the face of the woman in front of her immediately.

"—Mistress Jaimee Malfoy…? Am I correct…?"

She had only met her once before but she never forgot a face – especially one as annoyingly pretty as hers. And if anything, Marge had to make sure she remembered _all _of her students' parents.

It was one of her major responsibilities as Headmistress of Littlesworth Academy.

The young mother smiled uncertainly at her again, ducking her head once in embarrassment.

"Last time I checked…" She gave a short, clipped laugh and ran a hand through her hair to push the black locks away from her face, allowing Marge to see her features and her bright green eyes.

Jaimee smiled then, her eyes glowing with warmth, and extended her hand out in greeting.

"Headmistress Merryweather…Always a pleasure, of course…What can I do for you…?"

Marge eyed her face carefully, noting the strange lightning-bolt shaped scar on her forehead.

"Yes…I'd like a brief word with you…Mistress Malfoy…About your children…If you don't mind."

Apparently, Jaimee certainly looked as though she _did _mind but her smile only tightened. She nodded carefully and after they shook hands, made her way over to where the kids were standing.

"Please have a seat, Mistress Malfoy."

Marge did not fail to notice the way Jaimee's narrowed eyes had averted very quickly from her to meet her childrens' several feet away. She also didn't miss the fact that Jaimee, as expected, looked very much like she was trying hard not to show her anger at the wincing blondes. She literally had to force a smile back onto her face when she turned to meet Marge's suspicious dark eyes again.

"Is there a problem with the children, Headmistress…?"

Instead of answering her right away, Marge turned to look at the three blonde children who had now stood up from their seats near their mother and were fidgeting around in obvious discomfort.

"Frankly, Mistress Malfoy…I'm concerned about your children's rather…Odd behaviors…"

Gabriel's eyes flashed and he looked like he was about to protest but Jaimee spoke again.

"Really…? And what sort of odd behavior would you be referring to, Headmistress…?"

Marge had taken that opportunity to peer closely into one of the folders on her table so she failed to notice that Jaimee was gesticulating madly to her children and pointing frantically to the door.

_"Go outside! I'll handle this! Go before she changes her mind!"_

All three Malfoys got the hint immediately and the instant Marge had turned back around, Jaimee was already smiling innocently at her and all three Malfoy children had just left the room. When the door shut noisily behind them, Jaimee winced again and looked up at Marge's cold glare.

"So…Headmistress, you were saying?"

"Mistress Malfoy—"

"Oh, please call me Harry."

At the strangely masculine-sounding name, Marge's eyebrow arched up at her in question.

"Harry?"

The younger woman smiled sheepishly at her again, scratching at the back of her head.

"Long story."

Marge's eyebrows slowly fused together in suspicion but she nodded and reluctantly continued.

"Very well…_Harry…_If I may begin with—but—wh—where are the children?"

Jaimee's smile tightened again and she leaned back uneasily against her seat.

"I've asked them to go back to their classes, Headmistress…We wouldn't want them missing out on their academic tasks now, would we? I'm sure this matter can be settled between us." She folded her hands carefully onto her lap, drawing Marge's attention to the strange ring on her finger.

It was a white gold, contrasting perfectly against Jaimee's pale skin, but what puzzled Marge was not the ring itself but the emerald on top it – emblazoned with a strange insignia that glowed in such a luminescent way that that it was almost, as Garrett had mentioned just minutes ago, _magical._

And that intrigued Marge greatly.

Narrowing her eyes again, she copied the younger woman's stance and leaned back casually against her seat with a cold smile. "That's a very strange ring you're wearing, Mistress Malfoy…Is that your family insignia, you have there?" She asked, making sure she kept her voice light and casual.

At once, Jaimee's reaction was to sit up straighter and laugh nervously, hiding her hand behind her back. "Oh…Well, Headmistress…It's my husband's actually…His family insignia…I…uhm—"

Marge smiled calmly at her, raising a single eyebrow at Jaimee's growing nervousness.

"What did you say you and your husband did again for a living, Mistress Malfoy…Harry?"

Blinking, Jaimee stared stiffly at her for a couple of seconds before smiling uneasily again.

"My husband is in…_family business…_And I'm into…_politics._" She placed her bare hand over the strange ring on her other one when Marge looked as though she was trying to get a look at it again.

"I see…And your husband's family…? What kind of business are they involved in…?" She arched an eyebrow again and her gaze fell once more on the lightning bolt scar on Jaimee's forehead.

Jaimee followed her gaze and immediately moved away, her eyes beginning to narrow.

"Mostly…Investments…Er…International investments and acquisitions…You know…That kind of thing…" She forced out a laugh and crossed one of her legs over the other. "Anyway, Headmistress…Let me not bore you about this. You said you wanted to talk to me about my kids, right? Anything happen to them that I should be concerned about?" She looked at Marge expectantly.

Marge did not take Jaimee's seemingly nonchalant behavior as a sign to let her guard down and if anything, she merely sneered again but nodded, reaching over and opening one of her folders.

"Very well then, young Harry…If I may—" She paused and flipped Garrett's folder open first, looking up again quickly in warning when it looked as though Jaimee was trying to peer into the folder.

"Ehem."

When she noticed that Marge was glaring at her, she offered a sheepish smile and leaned back against her seat. Crossing and uncrossing her legs, she shrugged and gestured for Marge to continue.

"Please go on."

Marge's eyes narrowed and she shook her head as she began rifling through Garrett's records.

"As I was saying…I'll begin with your oldest, Mistress Malfoy—" She froze and jerked her attention back to the younger woman again when it looked as though Jaimee had swatted warningly at something peeking impatiently from her bag. It was gone in a blink of an eye, however, and Marge wasn't even sure she saw anything as she eyed the young mother smiling innocently at her again.

"Yes…? You were saying…? Headmistress?"

Utterly confused, Marge reluctantly tore her suspicious gaze away from Jaimee's black purse.

"Frankly, Harry…I have to admit I'm rather concerned about young Garrett's—" She paused as she pulled out a sheet of paper from the folder and set it in front of her, smoothing it with her palms.

"—_antisocial _behavior."

At once, Jaimee's eyebrows fused together and she stared, obviously not understanding.

"I'm sorry, Headmistress…I'm not so sure I understand what you mean—"

"I _mean—" _Marge's dry lips tightened again and she gave the other woman a condescending glare, pointing frantically to one of the written reports of the teachers included into Garrett's folder.

"—your _son _is a disrespectful, obnoxious little _brat._"

* * *

"Garrett, sweetie…What are you doing over here…? Don't you want to ride the horses?"

"No."

"Oh but don't you want to see that really pretty—"

"No."

"How about your friends, wouldn't you want to go with them—"

"No!"

"You don't like the zoo very much do you, sweetie?"

At the sound of his teacher's warm, friendly voice, the blonde seven-year-old scowling by himself near the benches at the other end of the zoo looked up and answered with a shake of his head.

"No."

He didn't say anything else though and his teacher frowned slightly at his antisocial behavior.

"Aren't you enjoying our field trip? Do you not like being with your classmates like this?"

Again, Garrett's only response was to scowl even further and glare up haughtily at her.

"No."

His teacher looked irritated at this, looking around the zoo around them and watching as the other students of her class ran about happily, eager to view the other animals trapped in the cages.

"Garrett…" She began, watching as the blonde continued to ignore her presence altogether.

Leaning down slightly so she could peer at the drawing the seven-year-old was so busily fussing over, she offered him a patient smile and tried to speak again in a more encouraging voice.

"Garrett…Do you want me to come with you and introduce you to some of your classmates?"

Garrett blinked and looked up at her with bright green eyes – a disdainful sneer on his lips.

"No."

The young teacher frowned at him, growing more and more agitated by his attitude.

"Why not?"

He scoffed as though the very question she had asked amused him and jerkily shook his head.

"Father says a Malfoy should _never_ associate with _muggles._" His voice held a distinct air of superiority and childish arrogance as he spoke, further irritating his teacher with his snobby remark.

"And just what is _that _supposed to mean, Garrett…? Pray tell, _what _is a muggle?"

His smile widened but he ignored her, laughing gleefully as he turned back to his drawing.

"I can't tell you that."

His teacher's eyes narrowed, now fully exasperated with the young blonde's obnoxious antics.

"And why not?"

Garrett smirked smugly again and picked up a green crayon before continuing his drawing.

"Because _you're _a muggle."

His teacher's left eye twitched irritably and she clenched her fingers in growing anger.

"Garrett, I have had just about _enough _of your attitude problem." She reached over and grabbed the seven-year-old by his arm, pulling him back up from the wooden bench he was sitting on.

"Now go on over there, join your classmates and _make friends!_ They won't bite!" She tried to pass off her agitation at him with a forced laugh but Garrett growled and yanked his arm away from her in annoyance, walking back over to his bench and plopping himself back down with a 'humph!'.

"No one tells a Malfoy son what to do!"

His teacher sputtered quietly and glared down at him, absolutely infuriated at his behavior.

"There are so many sights to see out here! Garrett…Don't you even want to see the animals—"

He scoffed at her, looking at her as though she was the stupidest person he had ever seen.

"Why would I want to see _those _boring animals when we clearly have so much _more _animals at home…?" He held up the drawing in his hands and gestured to it with a wide, self-righteous smirk.

"See? In _my _house, my grandfather buys me any kind of animal I want to have as a pet…Look, last weekend, he even bought me my _own _horse! It's staying out in the manor stables right now." He pointed proudly to the drawing in his hand again but his teacher suddenly frowned at it in confusion.

"What's this thing poking out of the horse's back, Garrett…?"

Garrett followed her pointed finger and let out a choked-up sound of laughter, shaking his head and setting his drawing back down onto his lap. "They're his _wings, _you incompetent muggle! In _my _house, all of our animals are rare and exclusively bred! See? My horse even has wings to fly!"

She stared at him, her eyes flicking back and forth from his gleeful expression to his drawing.

"You think horses can…_fly?_"

* * *

"Ehehehe…Flying horses…Wow…Kids _do _say the strangest things these days huh?"

Jaimee's sheepishly apologetic smile faltered and her weak laugh died out somewhat when Marge's only reaction to her comment was to stare blankly at her, clearly demanding an explanation.

"Somehow, I'm not amused Mistress Malfoy." She brought out the picture Garrett had drawn of the supposed 'flying horses' they had in their stables and laid it out for Jaimee to see more clearly.

The black-haired woman winced as she peered down at it, rubbing nervously at her neck.

"Well, at least you can't blame Garrett for lacking any imagination, Headmistress—"

Marge's nostrils flared again and she practically felt like tearing her hair out in frustration.

"_Imagination?_ Harry, your son has been boasting of owning a _flying horse_ to his class and causing confusion among the children! Frankly, I wouldn't mind if he kept this kind of 'imagination' in your household but the fact that he influences the other students of _MY _school is very disruptive!"

She took a deep breath to steady herself after she had said this, failing to notice the way Jaimee had stiffened at her words and looked as though she was trying to control her own outburst.

"You remind me _way_ toomuch of my mother's side of the family for my liking."

Marge heard Jaimee's strange comment but she didn't quite understand what she meant so she continued, still gesturing to the neatly colored drawing laid out on the table between them.

"I don't know what kind of things you _or _your husband teach your children in the house about animals, Mistress Malfoy but I would encourage you to help them _clearly _distinguish between what is _fiction _and what is _reality! _Leading your children to believe in magical animals or imaginary friends or lord knows what is something I would consider _irresponsible parenting _and _such _is something that I will _never _tolerate for _my _school! Think of the other children! Am I making myself clear on that?"

Jaimee said nothing but stared blankly at her, her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

"Clear as _crystal."_

Marge nodded firmly and continued, encouraged by the younger woman's passive response.

"And _furthermore! _While we're on the subject of distinguishing figments of imagination from reality—" She closed Garrett's folder and turned to Gabriel's next, rifling quickly through its contents.

"—don't even get me _started _on young Gabriel and _his _little animal friends!"

* * *

"_GABRIEL! THERE YOU ARE!"_

Gabriel was still smiling and nodding animatedly to the large, boa constrictor in front of him when Marge, his teacher, and the rest of the Littlesworth faculty found him that day. After more than _two _hours searching the zoo for his whereabouts, the adults' faces sagged with relief at the sight of him – all but Marge Merryweather, who froze by the railings overlooking the boa constrictor cage.

"Mister Malfoy."

The blonde had been standing up on the middle railing surrounding the snake's large den and was leaning so far in towards the snake curled around the tree that it almost looked as though Gabriel was going to fall right in. He didn't, however, and simply turned around the sound of Marge's voice.

At their gaping expressions, he blinked and smiled at them as though nothing had happened.

"Oh hello, Headmistress...Are we heading back to the school now?"

Marge's entire face turned purple, her eyes bulging out of their sockets.

"Mister Malfoy...Just what do you think you're doing?"

She all but hissed spitefully at him, well aware of the fact that the rest of her faculty behind her had paused and were watching the bizarre scene unfold with wide, bewildered stares.

Although aware of their reactions, Gabriel certainly didn't look like a helpless seven-year-old standing so frightfully close to the boa constrictor hanging from its cage. Turning fully around to face them, the blonde smiled calmly at Marge and his teacher again, stepping down from the railing.

"Headmistress, I was just exchanging farewells with my friend here—"

"You _are_ aware, Mister Malfoy, that _that _animal is a _boa constrictor? _Step away...Mister Malfoy, _step away _from that cage this instant." Her voice cracked and one of the male teachers behind her began to walk up towards them, reaching out and trying to yank Gabriel away from the snake cage.

The blonde stared back up at her, his eyes widening in confusion.

"Oh but Headmistress, Sythe doesn't mean any harm. He was merely sharing with me his perilous journey through South America—"

Marge gaped at him, her eyes narrowing into slits.

"_Sythe?"_

Gabriel stared back at her with wide, incredulous green eyes, shook his head slowly and sighed in exasperation as though what he just had said was the most obvious thing in the world.

"_Sythe_, Headmistress...The boa's name is Sythe."

Marge took a careful step back and blanched as she unwittingly collided with the other huddled teachers behind her, all of them watching as Gabriel turned away from them, leaned up over the railing and addressed the snake one last time by patting it gently like it was some kind of pet.

"It was nice meeting you, Sythe."

* * *

Jaimee's eyes were wide and she was clutching very tightly at her purse when she spoke up.

"A talking snake…? What do you know…? My son's congeniality extends to animals too—"

"_Animals _do not talk to people, Mistress Malfoy! It is _your _responsibility to make your son understand that! And to get him to stop freaking out the other children with his bizarre behavior!" Marge raged, her short, stubby fingers balling angrily into a tight fist as she stiffened in her seat.

Undaunted, the young mother in front of her smiled back calmly, offering her a careless shrug.

"Gabriel wasn't hurting anyone, Headmistress—"

Marge's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets and she grew hysterical as she answered.

"We searched the _entire _zoo that day and when we found him, he was leaning right into a _boa constrictor's _cage! _Smiling _and _talking _to the boa constrictor like it was an old friend!" Her voice cracked in the middle of her sentence and she grew furious when saw Jaimee trying to hide her smile.

"If I may inquire, Harry…Exactly _why _do you seem to find this serious situation _amusing?"_

A little chagrined at her anger, Jaimee bit her lip and tried to answer with another light shrug.

"Snakes are generally _harmless _if they're not provoked, Headmistress—"

"Snakes are _dangerous _creatures that give me a heart attack at the very sight of them!"

Jaimee's lips twitched and she clutched even tighter at the clasp of the purse on her lap.

"Well…Like I said, Headmistress…It's not like my son was hurting anyone."

Marge's eyes grew remarkably wide at this and a furious sneer curled her lips as she reached for the last thick folder on her desk, the one labeled '_Hailene Antoinette Malfoy – Kindergarten'._

"Oh you want to talk about _hurting _other children, then? Let me tell you about your daughter!"

* * *

Hailene clutched her doll tighter to her chest and giggled as one of her classmates, a small girl with bright red curls, brought her two dolls together and made them mimic an actual conversation.

"No, _I'm _the prettiest princess—"

"No, _I _am!"

"No, me—"

_ "Hey look! It's little Miss Pigtails and her friend Curly Sue." _

A boy's voice, out of nowhere, suddenly interrupted the two girls from their activities and they looked up from where they were huddled by the corner of the classroom. One of their classmates – a dark-haired young boy – walked over with two larger boys behind him and towered over their forms.

With a disdainful scowl on his face, he eyed the two girls in front of him in dislike – his eyes narrowing further when he saw the large, pink dollhouse that the two girls had been playing with.

"What a stupid looking dollhouse! It probably has your yucky girl cooties all over it!"

His two larger companions laughed behind him but Hailene had already stood up from where she was seated on the carpet, scowling and clutching her doll even tighter as she walked over to him. Her friend watched her as she did this, stepping back and holding her own dolls tighter in panic.

"_My _Mommy is a girl and Daddy never complains that she has any cooties—"

"Your Daddy has been cooti-fied then!" The boy sneered, laughing again and crossing his arms over his chest. He tried to walk away after he had said this but Hailene's eyes had widened in anger.

"My Daddy has _not _been cooti-fied!"

"He probably has to take medication just so he can be around you _or _your mom."

Hailene's face reddened and her doll fell to the floor as she clenched her hands into fists.

"That's _not _true!"

He looked at her and made a face, turning to his friends and pretending to back away.

"Ewww… She's turning red! It's the cooties, I tell you! Let's go before we all get infected!"

Just as he and his two friends were laughing hysterically and walking away, a sharp, angry shriek caught their attention and they whirled around again – only to gasp and back away in panic when they saw Hailene growling angrily and running at them, jumping the middle boy to the floor.

"_I DO NOT HAVE COOTIES! TAKE THAT BACK! TAKE THAT BACK, YOU FILTHY MUGGLE!"_

She tackled the gaping boy easily and, like a street brawler, began punching right at his face.

"T—teacher! H—help me! Sh—she's going to kill me!"

* * *

Unable to think of anything to say, Jaimee just gaped at Marge in a complete loss for words.

"Uhm…W—well, Headmistress…That is…I—I can explain—" Her stammered protests came to a halt when Marge spoke up again, indicating briefly to Jaimee's black, mud-smudged boots.

"Although I can say, with utmost certainty _now, _Mistress Malfoy…That judging from the way _you _obviously seem to be lacking in proper feminine conduct and behavior, I can see where your daughter gets her brutish behavior from." This time, the flat-out, sarcastic comment seemed to agitate Jaimee completely and the Malfoy Mistress stiffened, gritting her teeth in growing annoyance.

"Is there a _reason _as to why you've just suddenly insulted me, Headmistress?"

Marge snorted at her comment, flinging her pen impatiently onto her table with a huff.

"What I am _saying, _Harry…Is that I see _no _clear example for your young daughter in terms of proper female etiquette and upbringing!" She slammed Hailene's folder shut and narrowed her eyes.

"Hailene is a charming little _girl_! She is not _supposed _to be going around, tackling young, _bigger_ boys her age to the ground and punching the lights out of them like a common, uneducated brute on the street! Where did she learn such outlandish, unlady-like behavior? I won't have it!"

Jaimee's only response was to look even more annoyed and cross her arms over her chest.

"Hailene grew up with _two _older brothers so it's perfectly natural for her to—"

Marge cut her off with another derisive scoff and slammed her hand against her table again.

"She _also _grew up with a _mother _who _should_ be very much _capable _of teaching her the proper behavior for a future lady of British society…Something I need not be telling you, Mistress Malfoy." She drawled back with a pointed glare, causing Jaimee's cheeks to redden in growing indignation.

"Are you telling me that I'm a bad influence on my _daughter?_ That I'm a bad _mother?"_

Marge noticed the definite anger in the other woman's voice now but still, she continued to speak, sitting up straighter in her seat and leaning forward to glare the young mother right in the face.

"Which brings me to my final point, Mistress Malfoy…"

She stiffened at this and averted her eyes to the corner of her office where three rather strange objects lay on the floor, drawing Jaimee's attention to them immediately. Once the dark-haired woman noticed, however, what Marge was referring to, the anger on her beautiful features drained away and panic began to replace it instead, causing Marge's sneer to harden even more.

Without giving Jaimee the chance to react, she began to speak, making sure to keep her hard gaze focused intently on the young mother's uncomfortable expression. "This morning, Mistress Malfoy…_Your _three children arrived in school today…seen riding thosebroomsticks up the gates…"

If it was possible, Jaimee's cheeks paled even more and she began to cough in panic.

"Th—that's _ridiculous, _Headmistress_—"_

"_Furthermore—_" Marge continued, her cold glare unrelenting. "According to _three _different students from _three _different classes, they saw all three of your children _FLYING _in the air on these very broomsticks…" Marge's gaze flew to the three broomsticks by the far corner of her office again.

"Would you care to enlighten me about these events, Harry…?"

For the second time that morning, Marge caught the younger woman speechless.

"Th—that is…I'm uh…I'm certain that this is just a misunderstanding—"

Marge leaned back against her seat, folding her hands primly over her lap with narrowed eyes.

"Well?"

"Uh…"

Jaimee lost her train of thought and she gaped stupidly at the entrance to the small office.

"_Ladies! My sincerest apologies for my absence…It looks as though you started without me."_

Marge stopped herself in the middle of the long tirade that she had already formed in her head and looked up at the sound of the smooth, silken voice that had spoken. Her gaze didn't have to go far, however, and pretty soon, the words she had so carefully assimilated in her head vanished the instant she caught sight of the incredibly handsome young man who had just walked into the room.

_Oh bless me dear lord._

He stopped by the doorway, looking at the two women and arching an eyebrow in question.

"May I?"

The man couldn't have been older than his late twenties, with his perfectly elegant stance and the agile physique of his lean frame. His hair was platinum blonde, almost silver, and slicked back expertly from his face such that several strands were made to fall quite attractively over his eyes.

"I apologize for my intrusion."

Walking over to stand in front of her, he looked up, allowing Marge to see his face clearly.

His eyes were a shade of mercury, bright and piercing at the same time, while a lightly teasing smirk was on his young face, drawing her attention even more to his exquisitely handsome features.

_That is one fine male specimen._

He smiled lazily at her then, giving her a good glimpse his perfectly even, white teeth.

"You must be Headmistress Margaret Merryweather…Such a pleasure to finally meet you." He bent down slightly and took her hand in his, giving the back of her palm a formal, gentlemanly kiss.

"Oh p—please…The pleasure is mine, Mister—" Marge breathed out heavily as he straightened back up. She watched with glazed eyes as he smiled at her again and inclined his head in mild apology.

"Again, you must forgive my manners_, _Miss Merryweather—"

Marge's eyes swooped down once over his lithe frame again, taking in the expensive looking business suit and the neatly shined and polished leather shoes that adorned the young man's feet.

"—I do believe this is the first time we've actually met."

He smirked again when he noticed the way Marge was still eyeing him up and down and took the seat beside Jaimee, deliberately ignoring the way the young woman was glaring irritably at him.

"Please call me Draco, Headmistress…_Draco Lucius Malfoy…_" Again, he inclined his head briefly in a quick nod and turned to smirk at Jaimee, meeting her glare with a particularly handsome grin.

"I certainly hope my wife hasn't been giving you much trouble."

At once, the word 'wife' snapped Marge back to her senses and she blinked rapidly to stop staring at him, following his gaze and glaring unconsciously at the black-haired woman beside him.

"Well, Mister Malfoy—"

Draco cut her off with another charming smile, followed by a teasing wink.

"Call me _Draco, _Headmistress."

She blushed at this, almost forgetting what she was going to say, but managed to continue.

"Y—yes, well…_Draco _then…" She coughed lightly and self-consciously began to adjust the stack of papers on her desk, crossing and uncrossing her legs several times to avoid Draco's gaze.

"I—I…I was just telling young Jaimee over here—"

"It's _Harry, _damn it!" Jaimee snapped at her but Marge didn't even notice her there anymore.

"—that we've been having a lot of—" Her cheeks flushed darkly again when Draco slowly moved his thumb from where he had been stroking his chin and traced his smirking lips in thought.

"…Please go on, Headmistress…"

An exasperated groan was heard from Jaimee beside him.

"Oh give me a _break_._"_

Again, Marge paid Jaimee no attention and kept her eyes focused mainly on Draco.

"—trouble…" She breathed out, reaching up and uncomfortably loosening her blouse collar.

Draco's smirk only widened at this and he nodded slowly again, urging her to continue.

"What kind of trouble, Headmistress? Anything I can help you with?"

She swallowed at the unintentional innuendo she found in his words and forced herself to look away from him, flicking her gaze down and unintentionally wrinkling the papers all over her desk.

"Y—yes…Uhm…Mister Malfoy – _Draco…_Your children have been causing some problems around the school lately and I was concerned that their influences come mainly from the household—" She paused again when Draco took one of the stray papers on the table and handed it elegantly to her.

He feigned a look of concern as she took it from him, leaning back against his seat.

"I'm quite disappointed to hear that, Headmistress…" He sighed and shook his head to himself, avoiding the questioning glare that his wife seemed to be shooting at him from the opposite chair. "You see…I strive for nothing else but to humbly raise my children to be the best that they could be—"

Jaimee scoffed and tried to cut him off with an angry, sarcastic comment.

"Since when have _you _ever had a _twinge _of humility in you, Malfoy?"

Draco shook his head, choosing to ignore her. "—and it _disheartens _me to know that they are causing such a prestigious institution, as well as a respectable woman like yourself, so much grief." His words seemed to come out so fluidly from him that it was almost as if the very art of conversation was _effortless_ and Marge was stunned at his natural eloquence – utterly and completely enraptured.

She blinked stupidly at him, trying in vain to remember her point.

"Oh…I—it's no trouble at all really, Draco…You see…As I was telling young Mistress Jaimee here awhile ago…The other teachers have been giving me strange reports about your children and, of course, as the Headmistress here…I was…Well, I was merely expressing my _concern_ for them—"

Draco smiled easily at her again, allowing her a glimpse of the dimple on his left cheek.

"And a truly gratifying, admirable concern of yours that is." He teased, much to her delight.

"Y—yes, I am _very _concerned for the welfare of _each _of my students…And I must say, Draco…" She lowered her lashes and blushed again, failing to see the face Jaimee was making at her behavior.

"Meeting such devoted, responsible fathers such as you…" She knotted her fingers together and looked up at him again. "It gives me great _joy _to know that there are still men like you out there."

As she dropped her eyes down shyly again, she failed to see the disgusted grimace on his face.

"Then it _honors _me that I have earned a place for myself in your high regard, Headmistress."

"Please call me _Marge…"_

Draco's eyes twinkled and he smiled again, flustering the older woman once more.

"Very well, _Marge._"

"Ugh. Gag me_."_

Despite the way Jaimee was rolling her eyes and practically gagging herself at the direction the conversation had taken, Draco had obviously said the right thing because it was at that moment that Marge Merryweather _giggled_ like a giddy little school girl, crossing her legs coyly to herself again.

"I suppose I _could _let your children go just this _one _time…As long as you don't let it—"

At this, Draco saw the opening he had been waiting for immediately and he interrupted her.

"I will _personally _take it upon myself to relay your concerns to them—" He glared warningly at Jaimee when it looked as though she wanted to say something and quickly added further. "—and I will _also _personally see to it that they show more respect for your commendable leadership and authority."

Marge positively beamed at him then, her eyes lighting up with utmost delight.

"I'm glad to see we have an understanding, Draco." Her smile dissipated somewhat when she seemed to remember Jaimee's presence and she glared at the much younger woman in obvious dislike.

"Now if only _all _the parents of my students can be more like _you._"

Unable to stop himself, Draco turned to his wife as well and gave her a mischievous smirk.

"Don't worry, Headmistress…I'll be sure to personally_…chastise…_my wife tonight."

Marge missed the hidden implication of his words and smiled approvingly at him.

"Quite right…Now, if I may Draco—" She missed the heated flush on Jaimee's face and turned her confused, frowning expression to the three broomsticks situated at the corner of her office again.

"There _is _the remaining matter about explaining the incident this morning—"

Draco immediately tore his eyes away from Jaimee and looked back cautiously at her.

"Oh, _that! _Headmistress, again…You must allow me to apologize…You see…" He chuckled good-naturedly and waved his hand dismissively over the three broomsticks. "My sons are _quite _the pranksters, it would seem…And what the children must have seen this morning was simply another one of their well-thought out stunts. I mean, honestly…" Draco began to laugh, a little too nervously.

"Whoever heard of flying _broomsticks?"_

He laughed again after he said this – perhaps a little _too _much than necessary – and Jaimee soon joined him, their nervous laughter ringing clearly in the room. Eventually, Marge's shoulders relaxed and she allowed herself to join them, shaking her head at herself and nodding in agreement.

"That was precisely what _I _told the teachers this morning…It seems these ridiculous rumors were just spurred on when more and more children were claiming to have seen them." She sighed heavily and began to place the folders back into her drawers, shaking her head to herself with a smirk.

"Children, these days…They'll believe anything they want to believe."

Draco and Jaimee's smiles were plastered on their faces as they shared a look and nodded.

"We couldn't agree with you more, Headmistress." Draco assured her smoothly.

"Ridiculous." Jaimee added hastily, wincing when Draco nudged her sharply to say something

Marge's eyes flicked back and forth between the two of them, trying to assess their words.

"And the snakes…?"

It was Jaimee who answered her this time and she answered with a rather strange smile.

"Rest assured, Headmistress…You won't see any of my kids near a snake any time soon."

Marge arched an eyebrow stiffly at her.

"And your daughter's atrocious behavior, Mistress Malfoy?"

Jaimee's smile faltered somewhat at this but she nodded once again in affirmation.

"I will do as you said, Headmistress."

"Good."

Marge signaled the end of their conversation by rising up slowly from her chair again, reaching across the table and pointedly offering Draco the back of her palm again with an expectant smile. Carefully smiling back, he bent down and kissed it again before helping Jaimee back into her cloak.

Just as the couple had said their goodbyes and were headed out the door, however, Marge called out to them again, causing the two adults to stop at the door and turn around stiffly to face her.

"Hey…Uhm…You forgot your…Er…_broomsticks_."

Draco had stiffened while Jaimee turned around hastily with a nervous laugh and nodded, gathering the three broomsticks into her hands and rushing back out towards the door. They didn't speak again after that and once the young couple had finally left, closing the door softly behind them, Marge let out an exhausted sigh and finally sat back down her desk to start her work for that morning.

_So much for flying broomsticks…Ugh…Children…I don't think I'll ever understand them._

She didn't get much done yet, however, because about five minutes into reading through the letters on her desk, a strange, _hissing _sound caused her to look up and glance briefly around the room.

_What is that dreadfully irritating hissing sound…? _

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, she let out a disgruntled sigh and stood up from her desk again in growing impatience, finally noticing the small black purse that sat on Jaimee's vacated seat.

"Of all the irresponsible little…I wonder what Draco ever saw in that woman—"

She grumbled irritably under her breath and snatched the purse from the chair in annoyance. Rolling her eyes, she was just about to turn around and head on out of her office to return the small purse to the couple that had left when she suddenly stopped, looking down at the purse in curiosity.

A quick, curious thought had suddenly formed in the back of her mind.

"I wonder what that woman keeps in her bag."

* * *

"You owe me, Potter."

Draco couldn't have wiped the triumphant smirk on his face if he tried and he chuckled as he watched Harry's expression shift from anger to exasperation at him, her movements quick and agitated as she led their way through the long, narrow corridors of Littlesworth Academy that morning.

Still chuckling, he stopped in the middle of a corridor and leaned haughtily against the wall.

"Admit it, Potter…You owe me. In fact, you owe me _big._"

Furious at the smugness in his voice, Harry's eyes blazed as she stopped and turned around to glare at him, growing even angrier when she saw the way he was watching her with an arrogant smirk.

"I don't owe you _anything, _Malfoy!" She seethed in a hiss, watching as Draco grinned at her again and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back comfortably against the wall with a chuckle.

"Yes, you do."

Harry cut him off before he could say anything else, her features twisted into an angry scowl.

"I could have handled that situation just fine _all _on my own but you just _had _to go barging in there like the idiot you are, acting like such a bastard and thinking that you could just charm your—"

"It _worked, _didn't it?"

Draco scoffed at her reaction and straightened himself up from the wall, walking back over to her and answering her haughty retort by arching a single eyebrow. "If I hadn't gone in there, you would have blown our cover and sent the blasted Ministry after us _yet again_ for muggle exposure—"

"I couldn't help it! That bloody muggle was a blasted _toad_ who would have deserved it_!_"

He smirked again at her reaction, reaching over and yanking his glaring wife into his arms.

"You…_owe…_me…" He leaned down to whisper something to her, deliberately letting his lips brush seductively against the outer shell of her ear. "My rules tonight, Potter…_No holds barred…"_

Despite herself, she shivered at the intimate contact, unconsciously melting in his arms.

"Since when has there _ever _been any rules for you in the bedroom, Draco…?"

He laughed, leaning down and planting a kiss onto the crease between her neck and shoulder.

"Touché, Mistress Malfoy."

Harry rolled her eyes but smiled at him, easing herself slowly out of his arms so she could step back and meet his mildly curious expression with an exasperated otherwise slightly worried look.

"Is it _so much _to ask that _any _of our children manage to…_fit in _and be…_normal…_for once?"

Meeting her eyes, Draco shook his head in amusement and answered her with a wry grin.

"Hey, it was _your _fault for insisting we send them to a _muggle _preparatory school in the first place, Harry…" He drawled and linked his hand through hers as he led her through the corridors again. "All that rubbish you laid on me about them 'avoiding the fame' in the Wizarding world and all that nagging you did about how you 'didn't want them to get a big head'. Serves you right, huh Potter?"

Harry glared at him, clearly irritated, and answered by trying to pull her hand away.

"Well it was _your _idea to send them to these ridiculously stuffy, elitist schools, Malfoy!" She sighed as they rounded a corner, heading towards the school exit. "We could have sent them to a _normal _muggle prep school like Ron, Hermione and Neville did but _no…_You _insisted_ on eliteones!"

She rolled her eyes again and gave Draco another glare but this time, the former Slytherin met it easily with one of his own and he answered her by letting out another loud scoff of contempt.

"I won't have my children associating with _commoners, _Potter…If they _have _to be around muggles, they should at least be with those of high social caliber and class. They deserve that much."

If anything, his haughty retort raised Harry's hackles even further and she groaned loudly.

"Draco, it's _your _fault we're in this bloody mess. I'm going to transfer them to another school!"

Draco stopped them immediately as they reached the exit and gave her an exasperated glare.

"Harry, this is the _third _muggle school they've been transferred to in _two _years…We can't keep doing this all the time! If we transfer them again, we'll have exhausted _all _prep schools in London!" He reasoned out but his words only agitated Harry again and she tried to push him away from her.

"Well then _stop _insisting we send them to all these stupid exclusive private schools then!"

He scoffed at her words, looking at her as though she had grown an extra head.

"The only way _my _children will attend a _peasant _school is over _my _dead body."

"Argh! You insufferable prick!"

"You intolerable bitch!"

Harry clenched her hands into fists and glared at him with daggers in her eyes.

Draco gritted his teeth and glared right back, his eyes glinting like steel as they met hers.

"Prat!"

"Hag!"

She stiffened and tried to calmly meet his gaze, lowering her voice to an imploring tone.

"Draco, the teachers are all suspicious of them now…And just because that stupid Headmistress back there wants to get into your pants doesn't mean she'll learn to lay off our kids!"

He still looked a bit angry as she said this but Harry could see that he was beginning to relent.

"…"

After a moment's pause, Draco finally sighed and shook his head to himself in defeat.

"Fine!" He narrowed his eyes and glared warningly at her, noticing the smugness of her features. "Wait for _one _more mishap…_ONE_ more mishap before we consider transferring them again."

Harry smirked knowingly at him, her bright green eyes suddenly twinkling with mischief.

"Glad you see things my way…" She ignored the suspicious glare on his face and turned around again to head towards the school exit. "Well, I'd better start looking for a new school then."

Draco instantly regretted his words and he shot her a half-confused, half-irritated glare.

"Why?"

Her smirk widened and she paused, looking over her shoulder to give him an innocent smile.

"I think I may have left my purse back there in that old troll's office."

Still unsure of what she meant, Draco looked confused and he raised an eyebrow impatiently at her in question.

"So?"

Luckily, Harry didn't have to answer him when, just in that very instant, a high-pitched shriek suddenly echoed around the entire school – sounding like it was coming from the Headmistress' office.

"_OH MY GOD, IT'S A SNAKE! SNAAAAAAAAKE! SOMEONE HELP MEEEEE!"_

_

* * *

_

**A/N: **And we're back to the hilarity of it all. Hahahaha. Awww. I missed writing this world. And certainly missed the madness that seems to unravel whenever I write in this universe. I guess it's true when they say your characters eventually just take on a life of their own. ^_^ Hope you all enjoyed the introduction! Next chapter will be 10 years into the future already so keep a look-out everyone! :D

**And like I have always pestered you guys in the previous two stories, PLEASE REVIEW! :D**


	2. Not Exactly the Same

**Title: The Perfect Mother**

**Author: **slytherin-nette

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters you recognize from the HP books in this story. All I own is the plot. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling. She rocks.

**Pairings: **DM/femHP, GrM/?, Gb/?, HM/?, Many others. :D

**Warnings: **This is a **NEXT GENERATION **story based on the characters and universe of TPG/TPW so hopefully, you've all read those two stories first before attempting to read this one. Also, be warned of slow updates on this story as I will be focusing most of my attention on my other two stories.

**A/N**: My sincerest apologies for the very agitating delay of this chapter, but it _is _mentioned in the warnings that my updates will be slow on this, so I hope you all forgive me. *smiles innocently*

Just a reminder, since this is a next generation story, 80% of it will be told in Garrett, Gabriel, Hailene, or even the other children's perspectives. But don't worry, you'll see a lot more DM/femHP later on too…But that's all I'm going to say lest I spoil the major plot of the little story. *winks*

Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 2 – Not Exactly the Same**

Harry was sitting in the Headmaster's office yet again.

"_Your son is a menace, Professor!"_

"_I can't believe he dared to harm my son!"_

"_He should be severely punished for his actions! This is a case of injustice!"_

Closing her eyes, Harry groaned out loud and raised a hand to massage her aching temples as the image of her oldest son – a handsome, smirking Slytherin who was the spitting image of his father – flashed into her mind. He was in trouble yet again, and this time she had absolutely _no _excuse for it.

_Garrett…Why do you put me through this? _Harry asked herself exasperatedly as though in an unspoken prayer before she plastered on a smile and looked at the two angry mothers in front of her.

Neither one smiled back and _both_, it would seem, looked like they wanted to wring her neck.

Simultaneously, they swooped in on her and their shouts echoed loudly in the empty space of the Headmaster's office in Hogwarts that morning – where Professor McGonagall had arranged with Harry to specifically meet up with the furious parents of her students to discuss the entire situation.

Unfortunately, there hadn't been much _'discussing' _taking place because for the past half-hour, Harry had been doing nothing but trying to placate their accusations and justify her son's actions.

This was the _third _disciplinary case filed against Garrett for that school year alone and though even _she _knew it was futile, that didn't stop Harry from trying each time to defend her oldest son. If only for the fact that she _knew _Garrett's intentions were always sincere – only the means was wrong.

Wincing again and offering one of the angry mothers hissing at her a disarming shrug, Harry tried to speak up in a meek, seemingly laughing voice. "Mistress Macmillan, I can assure you that my son's actions will be corrected and I'll speak to him about his behavior. He didn't mean any harm—"

"_Didn't mean any harm?_" Susan Macmillan's high-pitched shriek rang through Harry's ears and made her cringe again as Susan loomed in on her and slammed her palms against the table. "Malfoy, your _son _cursed _my _son with warts on his _eyes. _His _eyes, _Malfoy! Do you understand that?" She raged again and when Harry offered her a weak, apologetic grimace, she grabbed at her robes.

"I want to see some _retribution! _What kind of things do you teach your children, Malfoy? Do you just _allow _him to trample on other students like that?" She shrieked again but before Harry even got the chance to answer, Rachel McLaggen, the mother behind Susan, began to shout at her as well.

"My son is a _prefect, _Professor! He is also Keeper of his Quidditch team! How do you expect him to perform now? That hex your son gave him won't come off for a _week! _What do you have to say for yourself?" She grabbed at Harry's robes as well and began to jostle her in her mounting fury.

Again, Harry grimaced nervously at Rachel's words and tried to pull herself away.

"M—Mistress Macmillan, Mistress McLaggen, please calm down! I can explain—"

"Where is he?" Susan's eyes were maniacal as they scourged through the room in obvious search of the culprit behind the entire situation. "Where is your troublemaker of a son, Malfoy? Where—" Her shrieks escalated higher in pitch until Harry couldn't take it anymore and she snapped.

"Garrett's not here!"

"Well, where is he?" Rachel retorted with equal impatience but Harry could only sigh in exhaustion and lean back against her chair. She shook her head and massaged her temples again.

"He's not here…I told him to go to the Headmaster's office at this time to fix the entire situation but it would seem—" She was cut off rather abruptly when Susan gave her a poisonous glare.

"You mean your son doesn't even have the proper decency to show up and _apologize?" _She mocked and despite herself, Harry was unable to prevent the indignant flashing in her green eyes.

"Please don't insult my son's upbringing and values in front of me, Susan." She warned carefully but it was Rachel who spoke this time, and she gave Harry a disgusted, impatient scowl.

"I want to speak to the Headmaster about this matter. Where is Dumbledore—"

"The Headmaster isn't _here_ at the moment, Mistress Mclaggen." Harry let out a weary sigh and tried to look calmly at them as she leaned back against her seat. "He is _indisposed, _and he left _me _in charge of his affairs for the next couple of days in his absence. Is there any other issue you'd like to discuss?" She tried to ask them again but the blatant irritation in her voice was far from discreet.

Apparently, Susan and Rachel seemed to think so too.

"_What kind of mother are you and how have you been raising your children?"_

"_Do you not teach your children to respect others, Professor Malfoy?" _

"_What do you intend to do to fix my son's current condition?"_

"_How dare you raise your voice at me?"_

For the fifth time since the start of their discussion, Harry buried her face into her hands.

This was going to be a long morning.

* * *

The Hogwarts Great Hall was buzzing with activity that morning as the usual horde of owls came swooping into the room, descending on the crowd of seated students. It took Hailene about a couple of minutes before she recognized her own snowy white owl and when she did, she held a perfectly manicured hand up, allowing Emmie to land on her pale wrist. The green-eyed owl blinked curiously up at her before extending her leg out, waiting until Hailene removed her attached letter.

"Hey girl…What have you got for me, there?" She reached out and stroked Emmie's feathers for a couple of minutes before she let her fly back to the owlery and turned to inspect her letter. One look was all it took for her to recognize her father's neat, elegant handwriting written on the parchment and she brightened considerably before unfolding it, reading through her father's words.

_Hailene,_

_I just heard the wonderful news from your mother. No words could possibly express how utterly proud I am of you right now. To be the top of your batch and to be the angelic, darling, beautiful daughter you are, I can honestly say that I have been blessed with perfection. Continue to excel in your studies, my princess. I promise I shall see you again soon and I shall buy you another set of those specifically tailored, designer dresses from Paris you like as your reward. See you soon._

_Your Father_

Smiling and reveling in the warm feeling of satisfaction flooding her chest, Hailene set the letter back down and began humming to herself, reaching across the table to help herself to some fresh salad. Her best friend, Valerie Parkinson Cunningham, was seated right across from her and when she noticed the blonde's expression, she glowered and gave Hailene a miffed, irritated scowl.

"Alright! So you're the top student in our batch, quit gloating Malfoy!" She grumbled, earning a smirk from Hailene as she looked up and cast a lazy glance over at Valerie in mild amusement.

"Daddy says he's proud of me…And that he's going to buy me that whole new Fall collection from Paris soon." Hailene told her, causing Valerie to shoot her another irritated glare of jealousy.

"So?"

Hailene giggled and tossed her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Jealousy suits you, Vallie…That angry flush on your face gives color to that usual pallor of your skin." She drawled back snobbishly before smiling flippantly again and tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Besides, it's expected since I get high grades…I have a right to earn my rewards." She gestured to the Prefect badge pinned onto her Ravenclaw robes and earned another glare from Valerie.

"I _love_ that you're so incredibly modest, Hale." She mocked, causing Hailene to laugh again. She was just about to retort when to her surprise, Valerie suddenly turned back to the large package she had been unwrapping in front of her and let out an ecstatic, high-pitched squeal of excitement.

"Oh _wicked!" _Her smile widened and she began tearing more furiously at the wrapper around her package, finally drawing Hailene's gaze back to stare at her in confusion. As she did this, more and more of the Ravenclaws seated around them had turned to watch the pair in mild curiosity.

"What?" Hailene's eyebrows furrowed together and she began to twirl a lock of glossy blond hair around her finger. "Who sent you that?" She asked as she took a ladylike bite from her salad.

Valerie's bright blue eyes riveted back to her in answer and she grinned broadly, finally ripping out the last of the wrapper and gesturing to the package in front of her. "Mother's sent me this season's newest Twitch Make-up set! Look, it even has the flavored lipgloss, magic-sheen lipstick and everything!" She exclaimed and as she was opening the box, she caught a glimpse of the sudden shock – and eventually obvious envy – that was written all over Hailene's carefully made-up features.

"Wow…" She mumbled under her breath and set her fork down, watching irritably as Valerie began unloading more and more of the set's products onto the table. "Your mother sent you _that_? Aunt Pansy is such a fashionable mother…" She mused as she eyed a tube of berry-flavored lip-gloss.

Valerie took her glumly spoken words with a smug shrug and smirked back at her, reaching for one of the blush compacts in amusement. "Oh I know, right? _My _Mother _always _knows the exact kind of make-up I like. And she knows _everything _there is to know about fashion, and beauty, and even _dating, _did you know? She helped me with all my dates last summer." She told her, oblivious to the fact that Hailene was now scowling and had looked away, glaring blankly at the Slytherin table.

"Fascinating, Valerie." She drawled sarcastically and pointedly drowning the rest of Valerie's words out, she reached into her bag and pulled out one of her own compact mirrors. "How absolutely _wonderful _it is for you that your mother is _normal _and isn't a male-thinking freak." Her eyelashes fluttered as her eyes narrowed and she scoffed, glaring quietly at a tall, familiar blonde Slytherin.

"_Unfortunately _for me, _my _mother is a man-turned-woman who knows absolutely _nothing _about being a good mother to me and I only found that out four years ago." She must have sounded so spiteful as she said this because soon, Valerie had looked up and had given her a worried look.

"Hale, I doubt it's as big a deal as you make it out to be. I mean, look at your brothers, they don't seem to mind that whole history behind your mother—" Valerie stopped when Hailene's eyes flashed and turned to glare at her instead, silencing the rest of her protests with a fierce sneer.

"That's because Garrett and Gabriel are both _guys, _they wouldn't understand how _horrible _it is for a girl like me to grow up without a mother figure to rely on!" She glowered, scowling again before she continued. "If it wasn't for you _or _Aunt Pansy to help me, I probably would have ended up growing up _just _as boyish as my brothers are!" She pointed out and she shuddered at the idea, shaking her head and sighing as she took out her compact again and began to slowly readjust her make-up.

Valerie watched her re-applying lipstick with an exasperated smile. "Well if it helps, Hale… Your mother is beautiful, and she certainly didn't fail you when it came to passing that on to you." She told her reassuringly. Hailene scoffed but smirked in agreement, recapping her lipstick with a snap.

"Well it was the _least _she could do." She muttered and after one last glance at her reflection – just to make sure she looked nothing _less _than beautiful – she closed her compact mirror as well. "Too bad I have to see my mother every time I look into a mirror though. Ugh. I could just hang myself."

Valerie opened her mouth to tell her off but before the curly-haired brunette had even spoken, another voice behind Hailene had spoken up, causing both girls to stiffen and fall into heated silence.

"What a _pity…_I couldn't imagine a beautiful girl such as yourself _ever _having a single reason to think that way…" The voice fell into a light chuckle and when she recognized who was speaking, Hailene's blush-speckled pale cheeks began to flush for real, and she managed an amused smile.

"A pleasant morning to you, ladies…"

Looking up from the Ravenclaw table _very _slowly, both girls found themselves gazing into the handsome, smirking face of Parker Antonov Skeffington – one of the more popular Slytherins in seventh year, and unfortunately enough, one of the several enemies of Hailene's oldest brother.

"P—Parker…" Valerie breathed out dreamily before she somehow managed to calm herself and shook her head to clear her thoughts, smiling nervously up at the Slytherin in greeting. "H—hey… Hailene and I saw you during Quidditch training…Do you work out that often?" She asked with an involuntary giggle but sadly, Parker's intense gaze was not on her but was resting intently on Hale.

"Unfortunately. Garrett Malfoy likes to beat his team to death, you see. Sadly none of those practices seem to help in alleviating his bloated head." He answered her anyway in a smooth drawl and, ignoring Hailene's smirk at him, reached down and offered the blonde Ravenclaw his hand in invitation. "Malfoy, you are most _ravishing _this morning…Shall I walk you around the gardens?" He asked her with a smile – one that Hailene certainly did not miss the underlying message behind.

She knew the kind of reputation Parker Skeffington had. She heard about it _numerous _times from warnings to her given by her brothers and her friends. Hailene, however, was certainly not a stranger to besmirched reputations herself and she couldn't really care _less _if they all disapproved.

Hailene blinked herself out of her musings and rewarded Parker with a lazy, seductive smile, using her long lashes to catch his attention as she turned away and pretended to consider the idea.

"I'm beginning to think you've singled me out as a _favorite_ when it comes to these garden strolls, Skeffington…" She teased with a single raised eyebrow, oblivious to the confused look that Valerie shot at her from across the table. "Do you find my company _that_ pleasant?" She added further and at her words, Parker's smirk broke out into a grin and he chuckled, giving her a brief shrug.

"What can I say, Malfoy…? Your beauty is unlike any I've seen." He obliged smoothly and when he offered her his arm again, this time Hailene took it and she rose up gracefully from her seat.

Valerie had stood up sharply as well but there was a look of warning on her face.

"Hale, I don't think—"

"I'll see you in class, Val." Hailene cut her off abruptly before she said anything else, tossing her long platinum locks over her shoulder again and giving her best friend a well-practiced smile.

"Do make sure you fail to mention any of this to my mother or brothers, alright?" She said sweetly and just as Valerie looked worried and was going to cut her off again, she added quickly.

"Oh…And don't fret if I'm a little late."

Valerie's cheeks reddened when she caught her best friend's wink at her but just as her blue eyes flicked back over to glare at Parker, the smirking Slytherin was already pulling Hailene away – his arm locked firmly around Hailene's slender waist as he led her off towards the Hogwarts gardens.

* * *

Garrett's thoughts were murderous as he clenched his fists and stalked off towards the Hogwarts gardens in anger, his head filled with the overwhelming need to bash Skeffington's skull in.

_I don't care if the Skeffingtons are one of Father's best business partners; I'm going to skin that stupid bastard alive if he touches my sister._ He gritted his teeth as he managed to round the corner, nearly bumping into a group of female Hufflpuffs who were headed for the opposite direction.

At the sight of him, most of the group had dispersed themselves to make way but the occasional giggly second-year girls stayed – perhaps in an obvious attempt to bump into him – and he growled, swerving past them as he exited the Hogwarts castle. He heard their giggles and whispers as he passed them by but Garrett just shook his head, muttering under his breath in growing agitation.

_ Girls._

He rolled his eyes to himself and raised a hand, using the gesture to make sure his blonde hair was still gelled back neatly from his face. As always, some stubborn strands up in front refused to be gelled down and fell into his eyes, making him look like the very perfect counterpart of his father.

With his Slytherin uniform on, it was inevitable that some of his Hogwarts professors would occasionally slip and call him 'Draco' during class – which of course, irritated him beyond measure.

_I have absolutely no intention of being my father._

As this passing thought had formed in his mind, Garrett's scowl deepened even more and he let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head and pulling his hand back away from his hair in frustration.

W_ho are they kidding?__ As if anybody else could ever be so much like Father the way Gabriel is trying to be. _Garrett scowled again but he didn't dwell on this thought any further as he finally managed to turn one last corner straight into the entrance of the Hogwarts gardens outside the castle.

About a dozen shrubs and tall hedges met his glare and Garrett growled in impatience, narrowing his eyes as he began weaving his way through in furious search of his prodigal younger sister. Fortunately, he didn't have to look far and soon enough, he came upon the _infuriating _sight of his fifteen-year-old sister and his seventeen-year-old housemate locked in a _very _passionate embrace.

The two teenagers were tangled in such an intimate kiss that they didn't even seem to notice Garrett was there, and it wasn't until the Malfoy son had raised his wand to illuminate their faces that he caught a full glimpse of them. Hailene's blonde hair was tousled all over the place and her arms were wrapped firmly around Parker's neck, fingers playing idly with his dark green Slytherin scarf.

Likewise, Parker was leaning forward and had backed Hailene against the nearest hedge, successfully making it impossible for her to resist his advances. His hands were currently snaking too much all over the curves of Hailene's slender body for Garrett's liking and without intending to, the eldest Malfoy growled, narrowing his eyes and holding his wand up even higher to illuminate them.

_"Ahem."_

Hailene had suddenly stiffened and began to pull away from Parker but Garrett spoke again, twirling his wand around his fingers and leaning back against the opposite hedge with a calm sneer.

"I hope I'm not interrupting…" He drawled slowly and even when Parker had recognized his angry hiss and pulled away from Hailene, he continued. "My dearest…_angelic…_little sister." He mocked, deliberately using the same tone of 'angelic' their father would always use when talking to Hailene.

As though hearing the underlying insult implied in his words, Hailene colored and she suddenly pushed Parker away in her mortification, raising a shaking hand to try and bring some semblance of order into her hair. "G—Garrett—" Her mercury gray eyes hardened with anger as she glared up over Parker's shoulder at him. "How many times do I have to tell you to _mind your own damn business?_"

Garrett's eyes flashed at this and he sneered at her again but before he could say anything else, Parker turned around slowly, looking up and giving his housemate a calm, deliberately lazy smirk.

"Malfoy…" He greeted but as always, the obvious dislike between the seventh year Slytherins ruled out any rules of propriety they had to uphold and instead of answering, Garrett just glared back.

"…"

Parker looked particularly amused at Garrett's hostility and his smirk widened.

"Your sister and I just wanted to do a little early morning exploring around the gardens—" He stopped when Garrett let out a harsh scoff and shook his head at him, giving him a malevolent glare.

"—but you thought it'd be _much _better to explore each other's mouths instead, huh? Well, you see… Family friend or not, Skeffington—" Garrett's sneer turned particularly dangerous and he stepped a little closer to Parker with an evil gleam in his green eyes. "—if I _ever _see you with your filthy tongue down my sister's throat like that, I'll make sure you never get the chance to use it again." He warned in a calm, soft voice that, as expected, caused the other Slytherin to pale and take a step back.

"Y—you can't talk to me that way, Malfoy—"

"I just did." Garrett's mocked, his mocking sneer never _once_ wavering from his face.

Hailene's cheeks had flushed even darker in utter embarrassment this time and she whipped her head to shoot her older brother a hateful glare. "Garrett, just _stay _out of this, will you? Why can't you ever just _stop _following me around all the time? Can't you see I'm not a little girl anymore—"

"Shut up, Hale."

Garrett's voice sounded heavily laden with anger and without so much as a single glance at her, he stepped forward again, twirling his wand carefully between his fingers as he smirked at Parker.

"I suggest you leave now and go spread your disease somewhere else, Skeffington." He drawled calmly, arching a single eyebrow and watching as the other boy seemed to back away.

Hailene's voice shook and her eyes were shiny with humiliated tears as she glared at Garrett.

"Garrett, you're ruining my life—"

"I said _shut up!_"

It took Parker about three minutes of looking cautiously back and forth from Hailene's flushed, furious features to Garrett's malicious expression before he smartly decided to pull out, nodding carefully and walking around Garrett towards the exit of the maze. He stopped just as he passed the other Slytherin, however, and narrowed his eyes, giving the blonde one last taunting comment.

"You know…For a guy who's earned such a muddled reputation for screwing around with women for fun, you sure are uptight with your sister. You make such a hypocrite of yourself, Malfoy." Parker sounded mildly disgusted as he spoke to him, shaking his head at Garrett in obvious disdain.

"No wonder everyone else likes your brother better than you."

_This _was the phrase that caught Garrett's attention completely but even as he had stiffened and was about to hurl at Parker the dozens of hexes that had come into his head, the other Slytherin had already stalked off back to the castle – his footsteps echoing through the silence of the gardens.

Neither Garrett nor Hailene spoke again for a long time after that, and it wasn't until the former had turned and was just about to go back to the castle that Hailene finally looked up, shooting her oldest brother a violated glare. "H—how dare you? What right did you to meddle in my life like—"

"Spare me the drama queen theatrics, Hale." Garrett cut her off coldly and without waiting for her response, he tried to walk away from her again – only to have her yank back angrily at his arm.

"You _jerk!_" Hailene's eyes had darkened into an almost black shade as she growled up at him, her perfectly manicured fingernails digging painfully into the skin of Garrett's wrist. "The _only _reason you're making me suffer like this is because_ Mom _told you to spy on me and _as always, _you're such a little _Mommy's boy _that you do _everything _and _anything _she says like a sad, pathetic little imp—"

Garrett's eyes suddenly flashed and he exploded, yanking his arm away from her in fury. "His hands were _ALL OVER YOU, _you shameless chit!" Growling, he shoved her away from him and met her angry sneer with one that was nearly identical to hers. "For _once _in your life, can you _stop _attaching yourself to _every single goddamn guy _you find attractive and whoring yourself to him like a bloody _slut?" _His harsh words caused his sister's eyes to widen and a hurt, indignant gasp escaped her lips.

"H—how dare you—"

"The _only_ reason you don't want me _or _Mom 'intruding' in your personal life is because you don't want anyone else to know just how exactly how much of an easy, conniving _slut _you really are, Hale—" Garrett heard Hailene gasping again and trying to choke back a retort but he didn't give her a chance. "—do _Father _and _Grandfather _know how much of a little _whore _their precious angel has become? Or does your façade with them still work?" He taunted loudly, giving her a mocking smile.

In the midst of his comments, Hailene had recovered her shock and managed to glare back calmly at him, reaching down and re-buttoning the clasps of her blouse with deliberate calmness. Once she was done, she flicked her eyes back up and smiled coldly at him, arching a single eyebrow.

"Does Daddy know that _you're _barely struggling through your classes?" She asked sweetly but even as Garrett stiffened, she continued. "Or are you honestly _that _much of a suck-up to Mom that you've convinced her to hide that for you again?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes as she adjusted her hair. "Honestly…You'd think you didn't know _why _I'm like this. It's not as if _MOM _is the best role model I have for being a proper lady." She cooed and her words caused Garrett's eyes to flame up in anger.

"Don't you dare talk about Mom that way! She never taught you to act like such a slut—"

Hailene rolled her eyes and shoved past him before he could finish, flipping her hair over her shoulder at him in cold dismissal. "Ugh, you _would _say that wouldn't you? You don't understand me—"

"_You _don't even understand _yourself!" _Garrett argued but Hailene was no longer listening.

"—I'm going to class. Do me a favor…" She turned around and cast him one last, mocking sneer over her shoulder. "You _and _Mom both stop tailing after me like bodyguards. Leave. Me. _Alone._"

It looked as though the eldest Malfoy was going to say something else but even before the words had left his mouth, Hailene had already flipped her long hair and began flouncing off – leaving her brother staring after her retreating back with an angry and exhausted expression on his features.

* * *

"Can anybody venture a guess as to what is the answer?"

When no hands were seen being raised in the silent classroom for the next couple of minutes, a pale hand situated at the back of the room slowly lifted, accompanied by its owner's cordial smile.

"Ah, of course! Yes, Mister Malfoy?"

Gabriel nodded politely at Professor Lagrange's beaming smile at him before he cited the answer that had initially formed in his head. "The answer is equal to the velocity with which the spell had been cast, times the magnitude of its power as computed based on the caster's magical capacity – in a static state of course. This would be computed differently had the caster been in motion at the moment the spell was cast." He explained calmly and when he caught several of his Gryffindor housemates rolling their eyes at each other and going back to sleep, he couldn't help chuckling softly.

Behind him, Gabriel already knew that his two best friends – _Daniel Longbottom _and _Annie Williams_ – were also rolling their eyes and smiling helplessly at each other as though in agreement. The rest of his classmates, on the other hand, looked less than amused at his answer and grumbled under their breath in annoyance, scowling and complaining quietly as they wrote down his answer.

_Well no one else had raised a hand. _Gabriel shrugged at this and dismissed their reactions.

Fortunately, Professor Lagrange had spoken again and called Gabriel's attention back to the front of the room before anyone else said anything. "Excellent, Mister Malfoy! That is correct, as usual! Make that…_ten _points to Gryffindor! Now if everyone will open their books to page 345 and read—"

As Gabriel flicked his eyes back down to the thick Arithmancy book on his desk, Daniel leaned closer from beside him and spoke in a hushed voice. "Bloody hell, I don't know about you mate. But if this class doesn't end soon, I'm going to fall asleep." He mumbled, squinting his eyes with a yawn.

Shaking his head, Gabriel glanced up briefly and gave him a smug grin. "You wouldn't have that problem if you hadn't snuck out last night to go to the kitchens, you know. That's your own fault." He pointed out but his words did nothing but make Daniel groan again and shake his head in irritation.

"Oh don't start about that whole 'being irresponsible speech' again, Riel. You _know _I've heard it so many times." He complained but before Gabriel could give a proper retort, Professor Lagrange caught their attention again – and this time, his words got more heads looking up than just Gabriel's.

"—but I suppose I'll leave that as an assignment." He smiled and nodded to the group of students that were slowly beginning to rouse from their sleep. "Class dismissed. You all may go then." He didn't really have to wait long before the entire classroom had emptied itself out and soon enough, Gabriel, Daniel and Annie were heading for the door, their books gathered neatly in their hands.

As they waited for the rest of their classmates to pile out, Annie turned to Gabriel just by the classroom door and gave the Head Boy a teasing smile. "Riel, must you _always _know the answer to every single question in class? I swear, the teachers are short of practically _proclaiming _to the school that you're their favorite student." She pretended to complain, causing both her best friends to laugh.

Gabriel shook his head at her comment and answered her with a light shrug, running a hand through his wind-tousled silver blonde hair. "I don't answer unless I'm absolutely _obligated _to from the lack of response of the other students. If it helps, I'm not _trying _to seem like a know-it-all." He offered but his words did nothing but make Annie laugh at him again and give him an genuinely amused smile.

"I know, Riel…I know. People may not like it but they _know _that you never _intentionally _do things that come off as arrogant or self-absorbed, or even condescending. You're a…genuinely _nice _guy… And I think that's one of the reasons I think you're a great person." Her voice had grown softer near the end of her sentence and she looked up, surprised to see the slight blush on Gabriel's face.

"I…Thank you…But I don't understand."

Unwittingly, Annie giggled at the embarrassed expression on the handsome blonde's face and she shook her head in her hilarity. "Oh Riel…Why do you _always _have to talk so formal with me—"

"That's how he talks to _everyone, _Annie." Daniel suddenly quipped up and both Gabriel and Annie jumped, suddenly reminded of the other Gryffindor's presence. "But then again, none of us find it as cute or as endearing as _you _do, Annie. The rest of us just think the way he talks is pretentious."

Blinking himself out of his surprise, Gabriel finally turned and leveled Daniel with a glare.

"Dan, there is _nothing _wrong with the way I speak!"

"Riel?"

Gabriel's annoyed expression quickly dissolved to that of confusion at the sound of Annie's shaky voice and he turned, blinking as he looked at her. He raised his eyebrows when he caught sight of the way she was fidgeting uncomfortably and was trying to avoid having to look right into his eyes.

"Something wrong, Annie?"

She flinched at the confusion she heard in his voice but finally, she looked up – allowing Gabriel to see the way she was biting her lip. "I uh…Well…I was uh…" She met Daniel's teasing blue eyes briefly in warning from where he was watching her over Gabriel's shoulder before she continued.

"Y—you see…I was thinking that maybe…Well, this weekend…We have Hogsmeade visits—"

_ "Riel! Sweetie, I've been looking all over for you!"_

Daniel caught a quick glimpse of the way Annie's face suddenly fell as she recognized sound – that of _Marissa Goldstein's _sweet, sultry voice breaking through their conversation and diverting the Gabriel's attention immediately. The Malfoy son had turned away from his two best friends and smiled obligingly as Marissa, the tall beautiful brunette behind them, walked up to him with a flirtatious smirk.

As expected, Gabriel's expression easily shifted into a rueful grin and he arched an eyebrow at her, allowing the brunette to link her arm coyly through his before she spoke. "Malfoy, we have Hogsmeade visits this Saturday. Why is it that you haven't asked me out yet?" She teased with a smile as she fell into step with him as he, Daniel and Annie finally made their way to the Great Hall.

He pretended to consider her words for a couple of minutes before chuckling softly and easily intertwining his fingers through hers. "I apologize. I'd safely assumed until now that most of the other guys in our year were already planning to ask you out this weekend, I didn't want to intrude." He replied with an easy smile and true enough, his words earned him Marissa's quick, flustered blush.

"Silly…" She giggled and leaned up to give him a quick peck on the cheek just as the four Gryffindors had reached the corner of the hallway. "…You _know _I'd turn them all down in a heartbeat for _you, _Gabriel." She winked at him and before Gabriel could react, she had already turned and sauntered off towards the opposite direction – leaving the blonde staring at her in thoughtful silence.

When he had turned back to his two best friends again, he finally noticed that Annie was beginning to turn away, clutching her books tighter to her chest. "I don't think I want to eat dinner anymore, guys." She looked up and gave them a smile that didn't seem to reach her eyes. "I'll see you guys in the common room, alright? Bye." She didn't really bother for either Daniel or Riel to answer her before she turned and walked off, her footsteps fast and hurried as she turned a corner.

Gabriel watched her go with a puzzled expression on his face, his eyebrows fused together in concern but when he turned to Daniel in question, the other boy snorted at him already in amusement.

"You _do_ know she likes you right?"

The Malfoy son froze at his friend's words but slowly averted his eyes from him, looking a little awkward as the two of them finally walked through the large double door entrance to the Great Hall.

"Perhaps."

Daniel let out a sound that sounded like it was a cross between a sigh and a growl. "If you did, why don't you just ask her out then? Hunting season is just around the corner, Riel… And I _know _you don't exactly have platonic feelings toward her either." He told the quiet blonde with a knowing glare.

As they sat down the Gryffindor table, Riel threw him a look that suggested that he was insane. "I would have thought that was fairly _obvious, _Dan. But the ramifications of pursuing Annie this hunting season is not exactly negligible. She and I can never be together." He reasoned out hesitantly.

Daniel looked confused for a couple of minutes before he realized what Gabriel meant and rolled his eyes. "Oh right, because of the whole 'we're' just best friends' thing? Is that it?" He asked.

"For one thing, _yes._" Riel nodded and gave him a pointed glare. "For _another, _Annie is, from whichever perspective you may take it from, a _muggleborn _witch. Clearly she and I are inherently incompatible and my father would never allow such a match to be made for my hunting season."

The other boy's eyes suddenly widened and he glared at Gabriel with a strange expression as though he was seeing the other boy for the first time. And sadly, it wasn't a good impression either.

"But…you _like _Annie, don't you?"

Gabriel's emerald green eyes dimmed somewhat and he blinked before averting his gaze.

"Irrelevant."

Daniel glared at him, his expression beginning to seep with annoyance.

"Answer the question, Malfoy."

Gabriel glanced back up and shrugged at him before beginning to help himself to some food. "She's my friend and I enjoy her company very much, yes. In fact, she's the only girl I know who I actually feel comfortable with." He admitted sadly, sighing before taking a sip from his goblet of juice.

Again, Daniel glared at him and raised an eyebrow.

"And you can't imagine Annie _not _in your life right?" He asked again.

For several minutes, Riel considered this but eventually, he gave in and nodded cautiously.

"Yes, I suppose that's about right."

Daniel was glaring at him as though expecting him to see the oh-so-blatantly obvious.

"And you can't think of _any _guy we know that can take care of her as well as you can?"

Riel stiffened and his eyes hardened at this but he still nodded and gave Daniel a pointed glare.

"I think she's a lot better than the guys around school, yes. And I honestly don't see her going out with any of them. Frankly, I'd be horribly angry with her if she did. What's your point, Daniel?"

Daniel was looking at him in disgust. "So let me get this straight…The _only _reason you won't go out with her…is because she's _muggleborn?_"His voice was dripping with so much disdain as he had said this that Riel began to fidget uncomfortably under his gaze, averting his own eyes to the floor.

"Well…Given my family background and the bloodline I am expected to carry on—"

"Your _grandmother _was a muggleborn, for Merlin's sake! You're such a hypocrite, Malfoy!" Daniel snapped, causing some of the Gryffindors seated beside them to glance at them in curiosity.

Gabriel's eyes began to flash in anger at this, and he clenched his jaw in growing annoyance.

"That's not fair. You know my family and you _know _I can't date Annie! My father _or _my grandfather will _never _approve of me dating a muggleborn witch from such a mediocre background!"

Again, Daniel looked at him but this time, his expression was a mixture of surprise and disbelief. "_Mediocre_ background? That's a horrible thing to say, Riel! I can't believe you said that!"

Riel seemed to have realized this too and he really _did _look genuinely sorry for his own words as he shook his head. "You're right, Dan. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. But you _know _Annie's family background and history is not exactly _'impressive' _when it comes to my father's standards—"

"To hell with what your father thinks, then! Would you stop seeking his approval on practically _everything _in your life? You are _not _your father so stop trying to copy everything about him—"

"My father is a great man!" Riel raged, his face contorting into a sneer. "And I can only _hope _to someday be a _shadow _of who he is! You just don't understand all the pressure of being a Malfoy son! I have to uphold myself with _pride, honor, intelligence _and most of all _responsibility! _Much as I want to, I can't just go dating muggleborns so recklessly like that, think of how my family will react—"

Daniel rolled his eyes again, no longer listening, and groaned to himself in helpless defeat.

"You're a nice guy, Riel…And you're my best friend and all…But I have to tell you. Sometimes, it surprises me that, contrary to what everyone thinks, you're actually _so much_ more like your father than your mother." He told him and before Gabriel could react, he added. "You sound _just _like Uncle Draco does sometimes when it comes to yourself, with the exception of being nicer and a Gryffindor."

Riel glared at him in obvious shock. "Hey, just what is _that _supposed to mean—"

Daniel snorted. "Even _Garrett _is less a priss than you are…But then of course, he's a horribly mean, bullying jerk though so I think I'd choose the stuffy, nice and friendly Malfoy twin over the non-stuffy but mean and nasty Malfoy twin any day." He kidded, finally earning a reluctant laugh from Riel.

"Thank you for your psychoanalysis of me and my family, Longbottom."

Daniel shrugged carelessly and began to dig into his chicken. "What can I say? It's a gift."

"Maybe you're right…" Riel sighed and shook his head as he began to pick at the food on his plate. "I don't mean to be all stuffy and rigid on purpose though. It's just that… I feel so pressured right now with all these familial restrictions and responsibilities. Father said my family will be choosing the next Malfoy Heir soon, did you know? They'll be making the announcement sometime next week."

Daniel cringed and obliged by giving him a grimace of sympathy. "That's got to be tough."

"It _is!_" Riel gave him a pointed glare. "I _know _Father expects that I'll be chosen over my brother, so that's added anxiety as well. Plus, all those arrangements to worry about next week over the start of Hunting Season, not to mention Quidditch. I don't know if I'll be able to keep it all up."

Daniel sighed exasperatedly to himself as he looked up from his plate. "Well, you're Captain anyway; you can opt to skip a few practices. Truth is, I think you ladle too much on yourself mate."

Annoyed at the other Gryffindor's reproachful tone, Riel narrowed his eyes and glared at him.

"It doesn't work that way, Daniel. My father is—"

"_Uncle Draco."_

Gabriel paused in the middle of what he was about to say and gave Daniel an annoyed look.

"Yes _exactly, _genius. You _know _that my father will—"

He stopped again when this time, Daniel elbowed him sharply, his face paling in intimidation.

"No, Riel…I mean…It's Uncle Draco. Your father, h—he's…_there!_"

Gabriel stiffened when he heard the nervousness in Daniel's voice and turned around, following his best friend's gaze until he came upon the sight of his father entering the room – dozens of wide-eyed stares and whispers following him as he made his way through the Great Hall entrance.

As usual, the Head of the Malfoy family was dressed to perfection and his hair was swept back carefully from his face, drawing attention to the smirk on his handsome features. The robes he wore were _impeccably _neat, and it made Riel fidget and check his own robes in case his father scolded him.

Luckily, that didn't seem to be the case and after casting a quick, respectful nod to the teachers at the Head Table, Draco turned and glanced around the Gryffindor table in search of him.

When their eyes met and Draco arched an eyebrow as he made his way toward him, Gabriel visibly tensed and hurriedly wracked his mind to check whether or not he was in any sort of trouble lately. It didn't appear as though he was because when his father finally reached him and he stood up to show respect, Draco nodded, flicking his silver eyes back slowly to meet his son's bright green orbs.

"Riel."

"Father."

Gabriel obliged his father with a cordial smile, which the older Malfoy briefly returned.

At the sight of Daniel, however, the Malfoy Head's expression slowly dissolved into that of a displeased sneer and he arched an eyebrow as he turned back to Gabriel before he spoke. "I won't stay long, Riel. I just have a few matters to discuss with you." He told the younger Malfoy carefully.

Gabriel nodded again at his father's words and gestured briefly to the seat beside him.

"Of course, Father…I don't have any more classes left for today so—"

"Perhaps somewhere _without _the presence of unworthy ears?_" _

Gabriel looked up at the sound of his father's cold voice again and he didn't miss the look of disdain the Malfoy Head was directing at Daniel, who surprisingly couldn't help glaring right back. Unfortunately enough, Gabriel wasn't really in the mood to watch another spat between his father and his best friend so he sighed again and moved away from the table, looking back to nod once at Daniel.

"I'll be right back, Dan." He excused himself just before he followed his father to the end of the Great Hall – just behind the Slytherin table – and stopped just as they reached the far corner. As they stood there, however, Gabriel couldn't help but notice the way Draco's eyes were searching the Slytherin table in obvious search of Garrett, and when he didn't find him, his eyes narrowed in anger.

The former Slytherin didn't speak until after a couple more minutes, and his soft voice surprisingly betrayed the anger that was clearly written on his face. "Your hunting season is to begin is less than two weeks. I've prepared all the necessary papers you will need for your impending courtship." He began, his eyes still scourging through the Slytherin table for a sign of his older son.

Gabriel nodded in response. "I understand, Father. I've already begun eliminating the potential debutantes I will be pursuing this season so as to narrow down my options and avoid wasting opportunities. Also, I'm a bit anxious, when will the next heir to our family be announced?"

Draco couldn't help chuckling as he turned back to look at him, his gray eyes noticeably lighting up with genuine amusement at his son's words. "Your cousins are no competition to you, Riel. I_ know _that you will most likely be chosen as my successor, you're exactly like me. You're the top of your batch, you're very intelligent, charismatic, you're Quidditch Captain, you're the Head Boy—"

At that, Draco frowned slightly when he saw the tilted way the Head Boy badge was pinned onto Gabriel's robes. When Gabriel noticed the displeased frown his father was giving him, he managed a sheepish smile and winced when Draco reached out and straightened the badge for him.

"—_and _you're in running to graduate as Valedictorian this year. I'll even make sure of that." He smirked as he finally finished adjusting Riel's robes and glanced up at him again. "You would have been _exactly _like me had you stopped making friends with such riffraff and been sorted into Slytherin instead. Now, your older brother, on the other hand—" Draco's eyes began to narrow in anger again.

"Where is Garrett?"

Gabriel hesitated briefly at the iciness of his father's tone but he eventually obliged an answer.

Wincing at the harshness of the older Malfoy's voice, Gabriel looked up and met his father's cold expression with a sigh of defeat. "He should be in the Headmaster's office with Mom right now—"

Draco's eyes flashed immediately and a furious sneer replaced his impassive expression.

"What did he do _this _time?"

"He was filed with another disciplinary case for hexing two students in the middle of class—"

Again, his father sneered but this time, it was accompanied by the clenching of his jaw. Sensing the gravity of the situation, Gabriel stopped immediately and tried to cover himself back up.

"B—but, I think they should be done by now and Garrett should be on his way back to class—"

"That impertinent child."

That was the last thing Gabriel heard his father growl out before the Malfoy Head had stalked off in the direction of the Headmaster's office, leaving Gabriel cringing as he tried to rush after him.

* * *

Garrett was careful not to make any sound as he pushed through the doors of the Headmaster's office later that day, wincing slightly as he half-expected a couple of hexes and jinxes to be thrown right at him the minute he walked in. Strangely enough, save for the beautiful, dark-haired woman who was seated behind the Headmaster's desk and writing away with her quill, the office was empty and Garrett saw _no _trace of the two mothers of the Hufflepuffs he had jinxed the previous day.

Taking that as a good sign, Garrett couldn't help the superior smirk that suddenly lit up his face and he finally strode into the room, plopping down onto one of the seats across his mother. If Harry had noticed him the minute he entered, she showed no indication of it and it was only when Garrett smirked again and propped his two feet up onto the Headmaster's table did Harry finally speak.

"No, you're _not_ off the hook yet, Garrett Draco Malfoy."

One of his mother's eyebrows were arched up in disapproval as she flicked her green eyes back up to meet his, causing the smirk on Garrett's face to dissolve into a half-grimace, half-frown. As though hearing her unspoken reprimand, the oldest Malfoy son cringed at his mother's glare at him and slowly lifted his feet away from the table, setting them firmly back onto the ground in defeat.

Harry regarded him with a stern, reproachful look, setting her quill back down on the table.

"You were supposed to have gotten here an _hour _ago."

To her exasperation, Garrett flicked his eyes back up and answered her with a small smirk.

"Now Mom…_why _would I do that when I _know _that no matter what happens, you'd save my arse and somehow keep me from getting into too much trouble as always?" He teased, propping his feet up onto the adjacent chair beside him instead and causing his mother to give him a miffed glare.

"You _deliberately _didn't show up for a scheduled meeting with Mistress Macmillan and Mistress McLaggen so I'd _bail _you _out? _Were you _honestly _that sure of yourself, Garrett?" Harry asked with an exhausted sigh as she looked at him, shaking her head and giving him a weary look of disapproval.

Garrett shrugged at her, giving her a lazy, self-satisfied smile in response.

"Yes?"

Harry groaned and nearly tore her hair out as she set her quill back down onto the table.

"Garrett, we've been over this _dozens _of times! You can _not _just go around hexing other students for fun! I don't care if I _am _your mother, I can't keep bailing you out of stuff like this!" She tried to reason with him again but Garrett just smirked wider at her, looking amused at her words.

"Mom, you've said that _so many times_ and yet, here you are again…Writing an appeal on _my _behalf because you just _can't _resist doing so." He set his feet back down noisily onto the floor again and this time, he sat up, leaning a little closer so that Harry could see the soft expression in his eyes.

"I may not always be so sure of myself and whether or not I can work my way out of trouble…but I _am _sure of the way you care so much about me, Mom…And that no matter what happens and no matter _what _you say, you know it will always be in your nature to be on _my _side." Garrett's self-assured smirk dissolved into a smile when he saw the reluctant smile on Harry's face.

"…you arrogant prick."

Garrett laughed as he leaned back against his chair, crossing his arms lazily over his chest. He knew he had won again when his mother sighed and began to shake her head, looking over her table to give him a weak, pointed glare. "Fine…I shall send an owl to them and apologize on your behalf." She looked resigned to her fate as she looked at him again, managing a helplessly amused smile.

"You know…" Her eyes lingered over the familiar way in which Garrett was smirking up at her with that same snarky, self-assured expression on his face and couldn't help chuckling. "Sometimes, you are _so _much like your father, it creeps me out. He always knew how to manipulate me too." She thought out loud, causing Garrett's grin to disappear immediately and in its place, a small frown.

He set his feet back down onto the floor again with a loud 'thud' and sighed, averting his gaze from Harry and settling them on the ground. "I'm not my father, Mom…_You _know that." He muttered.

Harry's eyes softened and the smile on her face faltered a bit when she saw his expression. She sighed and stood up from her desk, walking around it so she could sit onto the seat beside him. When Garrett looked at her in surprise, Harry smiled at him, placing her hand gently on his shoulder.

"That wasn't an insult, Garrett."

"Well, it _was _for _me!_" Garrett's eyes narrowed again and he growled as he leaned back against the backrest of his seat. "I am _nothing _like Father, Mom! He _hates _me! Apparently, I'm the _one _thing in his life that isn't so goddamn perfect!" He growled, his handsome face twisted into an angry sneer.

Harry watched him quietly, the expression on her face unreadable.

"You know that isn't true."

Garrett blinked and looked up at the gentle tone of her voice, watching in confusion as Harry lifted the corner of her lips into a smile. "You're a lot more alike than you think." She told him softly.

"How would _you _know, Mom?"

"Well…For one thing…" She reached over and playfully ruffled his perfectly gelled back hair.

"_ARGH! _Mom, you're messing up my hair! I spent hours fixing that!" Garrett growled and he slapped her hand away as he fussed back over it, slicking it back carefully before he glared at her.

At that, Harry grinned, leaning back against her seat and emulating his position by crossing her arms over her chest. When Garrett continued to glare at her, she laughed and raised an eyebrow.

"You're both rather annoying, self-obsessed pricks aren't you?" She teased and despite himself, Garrett grinned but stuck his tongue out at her. "For another—" Harry paused before she continued, a tender smile lighting up her face. "—you try to protect me the same way he does…Which may not always be the _correct _way but still…" As though she knew what was going through Garrett's mind, Harry followed this up by arching an eyebrow again and giving her wincing son a stern, knowing look.

"Why did you _really_ hex those two Hufflepuffs in class yesterday?" She asked carefully and it didn't really take long before Garrett winced again. He answered her with an honest, angry shrug.

"They were making lewd comments about you, Mom…" He grumbled, and when Harry looked as though she was going to reprimand him, he winced again but added further. "And they were staring at your legs. I didn't like it…So I taught them a lesson." Garrett paused and sneered, chuckling gleefully to himself as he glanced back up and met Harry's exasperated expression. "They won't be staring at anything again for a long time now, not with those warts in their eyes." He smirked wider.

"Garrett…" Harry shook her head slowly at this, half from exasperation, and half from amusement. Massaging her temples, she sighed and gave him a pointed look. "You have to stop—"

"I don't like it when people stare at you like that, Mom!" Garrett snapped angrily at her, his hands clenching into tight, closed fists. "You deserve _nothing _less than their respect and if I have to take out the eyes of each and every perverted guy in this school, I'll do it. I don't care!" He growled.

"Garrett—"

"You should have _seen _the way those two Hufflepuffs were staring at you! You'd think—"

"Garrett—_"_

"—you were a piece of meat or something! They'd better hope I don't see them again—"

"_Garrett!"_

The Malfoy son stopped at the sound of his mother's soft, laughing voice and looked up again, a little surprised to see that instead of being angry as he expected, Harry was smiling at him and was shaking her head in amusement. Still chuckling, she leaned over and rewarded him with a kiss on his forehead, pulling back moments later and stroking his silver blonde hair with an affectionate smile.

"I told you…_Just _like your father."

Garrett's scowl eased up a bit at this and he smiled back as he looked at her, watching as the Malfoy Mistress turned her attention back to writing quietly on the dozens of parchment on the desk. The fond smile remained on his face as he pondered her words, thinking back on what he had done.

Then, with a reluctant sigh, he shrugged, rewarding the dark-haired woman with a small grin.

"Perhaps."

Harry looked up at the sound of his voice and smiled back at him, giving him a mischievous wink. "Tell you what…" She gestured to two sheets of parchment on her desk. "Why don't I take these and write the letters out to the Macmillans and McLaggens myself, and we both just…_forget _to mention this incident to your father? How does that sound?" She asked, earning a smirk from her oldest son.

"That sounds—"

"_Imprudent."_

Garrett groaned loudly and made a face at the sound of his twin brother's reproachful voice before he turned around, tensing even further when he was rewarded with the sight of the Head Boy frowning as he made his way into the room. Gabriel was glancing back and forth between his mother and his twin brother disapprovingly and he sighed as he stopped just as he reached Garrett's form.

"Mother, as you are acting Headmistress for the duration of Headmaster Dumbledore's absence, may I remind you that it is not advisable for you to be showing such reckless behavior—"

"Oh just spare me the whole responsibility lecture, Gabriel." Harry rolled her eyes, chuckling as she stood up and leaned over to reward her younger son with a kiss on the forehead as well. Almost immediately, however, Gabriel frowned and pulled away, shaking his head at her with a frown.

"Mother, you _know _that such outward display of affection isn't proper behavior for a Malfoy—"

"No one's _here _but us_, _genius. So I doubt that what Mom did was improper. For once, why don't you just yank your wand out of your arse, Riel?" Garrett interrupted him sarcastically as he stood up, glaring at his younger twin brother in utmost dislike. "It's not like Father is here anyway—"

"_On the contrary—"_

Garrett stiffened immediately at the sound of the Malfoy Head's familiar, drawling voice and winced again as he turned around, his eyes meeting the glaring ones of his father across the room. Gabriel turned around and waited for his father's verdict immediately on the matter while Harry just smiled and shook her head, watching as Draco strode into the room and stopped as he reached her.

To Garrett's slight surprise, however, the Malfoy Head chuckled as he turned and looked at them, giving Gabriel an amused smirk. "I actually _do _agree with your older brother on this one, Riel. Since we're the only ones here…" Draco let his voice trail off and he leaned forward, catching Harry's lips in a deep, searing kiss that eventually caused her to blush and both their sons to cringe in disgust.

"_Ewwwww."_

Laughing, Harry pulled away from Draco and shook her head, pushing the blonde away as she leaned back down to gather the rolls of parchments scattered on the desk into her arms. "Malfoy, I'm _busy _and if you haven't got anything better to do, I suggest you go home or go back to work." She quipped at him, causing Draco to scoff and smirk at her, plopping himself down onto her vacated seat.

"We both know you'd rather have me here anyway, Potter."

Harry snorted in response, rearranging a couple more rolls of parchment into her hands.

"You wish, Malfoy."

"Bitch."

"Bastard."

"Hag."

"Prat."

Garrett and Gabriel rolled their eyes at the ceiling and groaned at the same time.

Just as Garrett was going to complain, Draco's eyes flicked back over to him and those silver orbs hardened again, accompanied by his familiar disapproving glare. Ignoring the way Gabriel began shifting uncomfortably at this; Draco spoke up softly, now turning his full attention to his oldest son.

"Harry?"

Harry blinked and turned around at the restrained anger she heard in her husband's voice.

"What is it, Draco?"

The Malfoy Head sneered calmly and, just as Garrett had done awhile ago, hoisted his feet up so that they were resting arrogantly on the Headmaster's table. "You and Gabriel get back to class, I'd just like to have a few words with Garrett." He glanced back up and ignored the glare she gave him.

"Draco, I don't think—"

"Let's go, Mother." Gabriel didn't wait for Harry to agree with him before he practically dragged the dark-haired Malfoy out of the room, ushering her out of the Headmaster's office until both their footsteps faded away into the far distance. In his agitation, Garrett listened as they walked away, but before long he was in silence again and all he could do was stare at his father's angry expression.

Draco's gray eyes were narrowed as he stared down at him, studying Garrett's uneasy cringe.

Sadly, the close, easy-natured relationship he seemed to share with his mother was nowhere _near _his relationship with his father and without knowing why, Garrett began to sneer at him, already anticipating the older blonde's comments. He spoke first, deliberately speaking in a loud, rude voice.

"Why don't we skip the formality of it all, Father?" He smiled sarcastically at him, crossing his arms and emulating Draco's pose as he sat back down against his chair. "Why don't you just go ahead and tell me how disgraceful I am as a Malfoy son and how I dishonor our family name and as always, I'll just go ahead and pretend I care. Then, we'll both go our separate ways and ignore each other and I won't have to see you again until the _next _time I screw up—" He stopped and winced when Draco slammed his hand down onto the table, silencing the rest of Garrett's words with a single angry glare.

"Don't you _dare_ disrespect me!" Draco sneered at him and narrowed his eyes when he noticed the stubborn anger on Garrett's face. "Have you forgotten that I am the Head of this family? I don't care if you _are _my son, Garrett. I could have you disowned for that kind of behavior!" He warned but Garrett just laughed harshly at this, raising a single eyebrow before he scoffed and looked away.

"What do you want, Father?" He sighed heavily, his green eyes looking weary and tired.

Draco brought his feet back down onto the floor and stared hard at him, studying the expression on his eldest son's face. When Garrett refused to look at him, he decided to speak again.

"Your brother tells me that you've been missing out on a lot of your classes this year. Failing a lot of subjects. Skipping a lot of important lessons." Draco paused for a couple of seconds and settled his angry glare on Garrett again, watching as the young Malfoy son stiffened in agitation in his seat.

"I didn't feel like going to class."

Draco ignored him and continued. "You have…_three _disciplinary cases filed against you." He sneered as he began twirling his wand thoughtfully around his fingers. "Not even counting the three we had to help you clean up…Are you aware of all this, Garrett Draco Malfoy?" Draco arched a single eyebrow and glared silently at him until Garrett was forced to look back up and answer his question.

"Yes, Father."

"I'm trying to understand, Garrett."

Confused, Garrett looked up, watching as a frustrated expression flickered in his father's face.

"Understand?"

"_Yes, _understand!" Draco's voice grew a bit louder somewhat and he clenched his jaw as he addressed Garrett again, leveling the younger Malfoy with an angry sneer. "I'm trying to understand how a son of _mine _could have ever grown up to be so reckless, so irresponsible, and so goddamn _stubborn _all at the same time!" His voice rose several levels and again, Garrett flinched at his anger.

"Why can't you be more like your twin brother?" Draco would have said more but that was when Garrett chose to interrupt him, cutting right through his words with a harsh, sarcastic drawl.

"You mean that perfect, carbon copy robot of you who does everything you say? The one everyone _adores _and _loves _and _admires _because he's the perfect Malfoy son?" Garrett sneered again and looked away slowly, dropping his flashing green eyes to the floor by his feet. "Well, I'm _not_ Riel_, _Father." He told him softly, lifting his eyes up again until he met his father's bright mercury orbs.

"And I most certainly am not _you._"

Garrett stood up so sharply from his seat that Draco glared at him in shock for several seconds. He stood up as well, leveling the younger Malfoy with a carefully guarded glare of warning.

"Garrett, _sit _down—"

"Sorry, Father." Garrett gave Draco one last sneer before he turned and began to saunter out of the room, pausing just as he reached the doors. "But perfection is just too overrated for me."

He didn't even bother to look back at his father's infuriated expression before he stormed out, slamming the doors of the large office so loudly that the sound reverberated through the corridors.

* * *

**A/N: **Yes, Hailene _is _a rather unlikable character here at the moment and even _I _hate her character but I based her personality now on how I _think _she would have ended up after having been spoiled _rotten _and _pampered _by nearly all the men in the Malfoy household. Her antagonism towards Harry is expected, as well. I'd imagine it'd be harder for a _girl _to grow up without a proper mother figure to 'look up to' when it came to ideals of femininity, thus the way Hailene is rebelling so much now. :D

Gabriel really talks like that – he talks more formally and intellectually than normal teenagers here. I'd imagine this is the way he normally talks with his father and his grandfather on normal occasions.

**Next Chapter: **Harry and Hailene, James, Aidan and more Malfoys. And where exactly are Dumbledore and Snape? :D

**I'LL BE WATCHING DEATHLY HALLOWS TOMORROW! *does a happy dance* **

**PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A REVIEW! :D **


	3. The Next Generation

**Title: The Perfect Mother**

**Author: **slytherin-nette

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters you recognize from the HP books in this story. All I own is the plot. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling. She rocks.

**Pairings: **DM/femHP, GrM/?, Gb/?, HM/?, Many others. :D

**Warnings: **This is a **NEXT GENERATION **story based on the characters and universe of TPG/TPW so hopefully, you've all read those two stories first before attempting to read this one. Also, be warned of slow updates on this story as I will be focusing most of my attention on my other two stories.

**A/N**: Er…Hi…Everyone? *ducks as a horde of shoes comes flying towards her* WAAAAAH! MERCY! *runs and ducks behind Garrett* Alright, alright! My bad, I'm sorry! (T_T) I was so drowning in work these last couple of months that I had the most horrible case of writer's block. *sobs* I can't even update my other story, Phoenix Tears, right now because my muse is avoiding me. She and I are on a horrible time-out for some reason. And I have been trying very hard these last few days to get her back. (T_T) Anyway, just so you guys wouldn't be _too _mad at me, I got this chapter out for you…Which may not exactly be my best but at least, it'll get the story moving along to the actual good parts. *wink* So without further ado, I won't bother you guys any further…Enjoy the chapter! :D

* * *

**Chapter 3 – The Next Generation  
**

"Miss Malfoy. Please stay for a few moments."

Already, she could tell from the disapproving tone in her mother's voice, as well as the firm way in which the Malfoy Mistress had called Hailene 'Miss Malfoy', that she wasn't going to like what was going to come next. Nevertheless, Hale looked up at her mother's soft words anyway and sighed, pausing just as she had made it to the DADA classroom exit. Her girl friends from Ravenclaw had all stopped just outside the classroom to glance questioningly at her but she shook her head and waved them away, turning around very slowly just in time to see her mother beckoning her over towards her.

Sighing once more and fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Hailene sent her friends off with a pointed look before walking sullenly over to where Jaimee was standing. She didn't say anything at first and waited patiently until the DADA professor had finished cleaning the classroom with a few simple cleaning charms before Hailene dared look up again, wincing when she saw her mother's glare.

She followed Harry's flashing green eyes over to the top two unclasped buttons on her blouse and even before her mother had managed to say anything, she flinched and tried to intercept her.

"Mother, _before _you overreact again—"

"Merlin's beard, will you look at your blouse, Hailene?" Harry snapped angrily before Hailene even got the chance to finish her sentence and even when the blonde opened her mouth to respond, her dark-haired mother was snapping at her again, her voice rising several levels in her agitation.

"I did _not _raise my only daughter to act like a hussy, Hailene and if you have some respect at all for yourself _and _for me, you will start dressing properly. Is that understood?" Harry looked more weary than angry as she said this but Hailene was way past being patient at this point and she just glared back at her, flinging her mother's hands away from her when she had tried to adjust her robes.

"I don't _need_ another father!" Hailene raged at her and without waiting for the older woman's reaction, she had already shoved the dark-haired Malfoy away, taking a few steps back in her anger. "Can you _please_ act like my bloody _MOTHER _for one second and try to understand me?" She raged. They glared at each other for a few minutes – both women reflecting equal anger for one another amidst equally beautiful features but otherwise, nothing else was shared between them except this.

Hailene knew she may _look _like her mother more than she could ever like but she consoled herself by thinking that this was only to compensate for the fact that she and her mother shared nothing else _but _their features. They had always been at odds with each other – ever since Hailene had started her years in Hogwarts and had found out, through one of her _history_ classesfor Merlin's sake, that her mother was actually the legendary _male _savior of the wizarding world. Needless to say, betrayal and anger were the _mildest _words anyone could have used to describe her reaction. From that moment onwards, though Hailene knew that Harry had always made an effort to try and bridge the gap between them again, nothing else seemed to come off their relationship other than bitterness.

Since then, the two had grown too far apart for them to ever establish a meaningful friendship and whether unconsciously or not, Hailene had always been distant when it came to her mother.

Perhaps, that was also the reason Harry seemed to be trying so hard to reach out to her.

"Hailene, _please." _Her mother's voice was slightly pleading now as she walked over to the younger girl and grasped her gently by the arm, turning her around slowly so she was facing her. "I'm imploring you, sweetheart…I don't wish to fight again before I leave, you _do _know that I will be gone for a couple of days to be with Dumbledore and Snape, right?" She asked and after waiting for Hailene to nod stiffly back at her without meeting her eyes, Harry sighed again but forced herself to continue.

"I will have some things to deal with outside of school but I promise you, I _want _to resolve this the minute I get back." She paused for a couple of seconds as she stared at Hailene's scowling features before she sighed in defeat, reaching into her pocket to pull out a small white handkerchief. Then, ignoring Hailene's adamant protests at her, she muttered a simple water charm with her wand and drenched the handkerchief, using it to wipe gently at the thick make-up all over Hailene's face.

Her teenage daughter didn't appreciate her efforts at all and tried to move back again.

"_Mom—"_

"Hale Storm—" Harry began gently, unknowingly causing the blonde to flinch at her old childhood nickname as she turned away. "—you are _very _beautiful, love…_Very _beautiful…Just the way you are. You don't _need _this much make-up, it does nothing but make you look cheap and garish—"

Hailene sneered at her and snatched the handkerchief away, hurling it to the floor.

"What would _you _know, anyway? You're not even a real woman!" She snapped, narrowing her eyes at the older woman in challenge and feeling triumphant when she saw her mother flinch. Refusing to take the bait, Harry just blinked and glared down calmly at her, shaking her head slowly.

"Who gave you this make-up?" She demanded, her voice scarily reminiscent of parseltongue.

It was Hailene's turn to stiffen this time and she swallowed as she took a backwards step, trying to glare up at the Malfoy Mistress in retaliation. She held her chin up and cast her mother a haughty sneer, unconsciously emulating her Aunt Pansy's purposely condescending, saccharine smile.

_"If _you must know…" Hailene arched an eyebrow, ignoring Harry's look of exasperated anger. "Aunt Pansy gave it to me last year for my _birthday…_" She paused in the middle of her drawl and smiled sweetly up at Harry again, giving her another fake smile. "And _if _you also remember, _Mother, _that was the birthday during which you were _thoughtful _enough to give me _snake _as a present." She scathed and to her surprise, Harry had the temerity to look a bit embarrassed and winced at this.

The dark-haired Malfoy sighed and shrugged helplessly at her, looking apologetic. "That was _my _fault, Hailene…I thought you were going to be a parselmouth just like your brothers, I didn't _mean _to scare you like that. But nevertheless, it was thoughtless of me and I should have known better—"

Before she could help herself, Hailene had snapped at her again. "That snake _traumatized _me, I'll have you know! I was opening a pretty pink box with a bow and right when I tore it open, a _snake _came flying up at me and almost bit me! I hope you're proud of yourself, mother!" She drawled loudly.

Harry looked helplessly at her, all but tearing her hair out in her frustration. "The snake was _hardly _trying to bite you, Hailene, it was just trying to get up onto you to wrap around your neck—"

"Oh to _strangle _me instead, how fetching." She was deliberately ignoring her mother's protests now and picked her bag up from the floor, turning around and flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Was there anything else you needed from me then, Mother?" Hailene glanced icily over her shoulder merely for the effort, and she didn't see that Harry plopped back into her seat with a sigh of defeat.

"No…Nothing else."

Hailene didn't bother waiting for her to say anything else as she whirled back around and stalked out, slamming the classroom door shut. Scowling, she stalked down the corridors and hastily made her way to her History classroom, muttering angrily under her breath the entire time.

She knew there a couple of stares on her as she passed by several crowds of students – mostly from guys who were giving her flirtatious smiles – but she ignored them and kept walking, deliberately keeping an unwelcoming sneer on her face to signal them away. A few more minutes of this passed and just as she reached the corridor leading to her History classroom, a flash of familiar auburn hair caught her eye and she lazily flicked her gaze toward it, her eyes narrowing in disdain.

"Abigail."

* * *

Olivia Annabelle Winchester sighed and began to brace herself for the worst as she unfolded the letter in her hands, instantly recognizing her mother's feminine handwriting. Sure enough, after a couple of lines into the letter, Olivia's face darkened into a scowl and she shook her head fiercely.

_My Dearest Daughter,_

_Hunting season will officially be starting next week, darling! I have sent you all of the most beautiful gowns and dresses I could find, they should all be in the package that came with this letter. I trust you'll put them all to good use so that you may catch the attention of a worthy enough suitor._

_ Also, I have sent word to your brother and he will be arriving next week to assist you with your debut, as well as look for possible matches of his own in Hogwarts. This very moment, your father is already beginning to pair you up with the chosen Heirs of some of his closest friends. _

_ Remember, your match this season is very important to our family right now._

_I know you will make me proud, Olivia. Your father and I are counting on you. _

_Sincerely,_

_Your Mother_

Still scowling, Olivia set the letter she held back down and grumbled as she shoved it back into her pocket. She imagined the expression her mother must have had as she had written this letter – smiling smugly as she was already planning out Olivia's engagement and courtship in her head.

_She's probably already looking for my wedding gown right now._ Olivia thought wryly, rolling her eyes and exasperatedly blowing a lock of black hair from her eyes. Sighing, she looked up and glanced around the semi-occupied Ravenclaw table briefly, noting that most of her classmates were already beginning to gather their things. After checking her watch, she stood up and did the same.

_Potions. I'd better get there early, Professor Snape hates tardy students. _Olivia mused distractedly to herself as she began following the other students towards the exit. Most of them recognized the Head Girl badge pinned on her uniform immediately and moved to let her through, allowing the Ravenclaw a chance to think quietly to herself as she walked ahead of everybody else.

She stopped just as she reached the corridor in front of their potions classroom, still lost in her own thoughts. She tried to recall the strange expression on her father's face a couple of months ago, just as he was dropping her off at King's Cross station to take the train to Hogwarts for her final year. If anything, Olivia had always considered Philippe Winchester to be a formidable and challenging man – not afraid nor intimidated by anything or anyone in his path – but that day, he had looked at her with a strange, troubled expression in his eyes. Olivia had known instantly that something was wrong, especially when she saw the disgusted glare her mother was giving her father but still, she kept silent.

As they argued in front of her – just as the three of them were walking down the train station towards Platform 9 and ¾ – Olivia heard the faint mentions of 'family fortune', 'depleted', 'default', and 'company bankruptcy' erupting from her father's mouth. Her mother, equally furious, had been screaming at him and berating him about his 'gambling' and 'womanizing', which had apparently led to the squandering of their entire family fortune in the first place. Olivia hadn't said anything the entire time but in her head, she was worried – for she honestly did not know what they were going to do.

That was when it hit her.

Or rather, that was when her father had stopped her mother in the middle of her shrieking tirade and had glanced quietly at Olivia before a thoughtful look crossed his face. He and Elisa spent the next few minutes after that just talking quietly and whispering to themselves, both shooting Olivia thoughtful glances every now and then as though they were seizing her up. Finally, just as Olivia was about to board the train, Philippe called out to her, she finally found out what they were thinking.

_**START OF FLASHBACK**_

"_You'll be debuting this school year, my Olivia…You'll be of age soon. Soon enough, you will be getting married." Philippe had enthused to her with a smile, instantly causing Olivia to flinch and glare at him, pulling away from him as though he had caught on fire. Her mother had laughed at them while Philippe just rolled his eyes and after pulling her aside again, he had given Olivia a serious look._

"_Olivia…You're turning seventeen this year…You need to find a suitable husband soon. And given the circumstances, what with the family's current financial shortage right now, you need to choose wisely for us—" He was cut off abruptly when Olivia glared at him, her eyes flashing with anger._

"_Why? Why should I be the one responsible for your mistakes, father? You were the one who squandered the family fortune away on all your useless gambling!" Olivia paused when it looked as though Philippe was going to answer but before he could say anything, Elisa had suddenly interrupted them with a pointed glare. "You will do as your father says, Olivia. You have a responsibility to our family and to our welfare!" She snapped, earning another incredulous glare from her daughter._

"_Mother, this is ridiculous! I refuse to let you OR father choose my husband for me—"_

"_You don't understand, Olivia." Philippe's voice sounded restrained as he sighed and ran a hand wearily through his hair. "It's more than just the family fortune…The very existence of our family business is threatened right now from all our debt obligations… And after a few more years, I'm not so sure we'll be able to keep paying them off." He looked intently at her, imploring her with his eyes. "You and your brother need to find financially strong match-ups this season…From families that could save our business from bankruptcy." He winced as he was met with his daughter's mocking sneer._

"_And how exactly do you expect me to find a suitably rich husband within one year?" She asked sarcastically but that was when Elisa spoke up again, and she gave her daughter a wide smile. _

"_Your father and I will handle your courtship procedures, darling. Just leave everything to us." She told her, ending with such a saccharinely sweet smile that Olivia knew could only mean trouble._

_**END OF FLASHBACK**_

Olivia groaned again and buried her head in her hands, closing her eyes as she thought of all she had to go through within the coming weeks. If any of her mother's constant letters to her meant anything, Olivia could expect to find herself meeting suitors as early as next week – and at this point, she wasn't even sure how these suitors were going to be like other than the fact that they were rich.

_Rich and pureblood._ She thought to herself with another scowl, suddenly remembering the expression on her father's face when she had first refused to go along with their plan. Personally, she herself had no qualms whatsoever about the purity of blood or financial background of the people she hung out with. Her parents, however, were the exact opposite and Olivia could never understand why.

_I don't care what they say…I'm not marrying any brainless, half-assed jerk just because he's from a rich, pureblooded family. If they're going to force me to get married, I'm marrying someone I actually like. _Olivia thought stubbornly to herself with a sigh. Just as she was raising her head back up to rouse herself from her thoughts, a loud, familiar voice from down the corridor had suddenly called her attention, forcing the Ravenclaw to blink in confusion and look up at the source of the sound.

"_OY! WINCHESTER!"_

Clenching her fists and gritting her teeth, Olivia didn't really have to think twice before she recognized that voice. Looking up, she caught sight of the smug blonde in a Slytherin uniform making his way towards her and without thinking, she glared at him, her face scrunching up into a growl.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" She snapped at him just as Garrett Malfoy had stopped in front of her and arched a single eyebrow in amusement. The blonde smirked at her, eyeing her expression.

"Really, now…" He shook his head and pretended to give her a slightly miffed expression. "Is that any way for a pureblooded debutante to act? And I would have thought your stuffy, money-grabbing weasel of a mother taught you better manners than that." He drawled loudly, causing Olivia to stiffen even more and clench her fists, her bright gray eyes suddenly blazing with indignant anger.

"Don't you _DARE _talk about my mother like that, Malfoy…Or I'll—"

"You'll what?" Garrett taunted loudly, his sneer growing when he saw Olivia's agitated expression. "You'll try to lure me into a forced marriage as well? Heaven forbid, Winchester! Please don't!" He mocked and again, Olivia's fists tightened and she longed to punch the blonde's lights out.

"_Shove _off, Malfoy." She seethed at him and she was just about to leave him to walk inside the classroom when Garrett suddenly surprised her by leaning in closer, leering over her smaller body with an amused grin. When she narrowed her eyes at him and pulled away, he chuckled to himself.

"You know—" Garrett's lips twitched as he paused and pretended to stroke his chin in thought.

Out of habit, Olivia stiffened, bracing herself for the usual insult that was sure to follow.

"—you're looking pretty hot today, Winchester…" Garrett's smirk widened somewhat as he crossed his arms over his chest and arched a single eyebrow at her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd have almost forgotten that you used to be that same, oversized whale who used to send guys reeling towards the opposite end of the corridor whenever she bumped into them." He quipped, purposely speaking loud enough so that he drew the attention of the other students waiting along the corridor.

Some of the Slytherins watching who were standing nearby heard this and laughed at Garrett's comment, causing Olivia's face to heat up in angry embarrassment. Even after three years, the Slytherin jerk _still _teased Olivia relentlessly about how chubby she had been during their first three years in Hogwarts and she hated him immensely for it – especially since she had done nothing but _diet _the entire summer following her third year just so she could lose all that excess baby weight.

She was slender now – one of the lithest girls in their year – but it still bothered her whenever Garrett teased her about her former size. It was even worse when the Slytherin teased her in front of everyone else and right then, Olivia wanted nothing more than to melt into a puddle on the floor and disappear.

"_Malfoy._" She hissed, narrowing her eyes as she took a step towards Garrett and glared at his annoyingly handsome smirk. "Have you nothing better to do than to annoy other people?" She drew away from him and slung her bag over her shoulder, shooting him a dark glare. "At least unlike _some _people, I don't have to worry about fitting my head into a room." She added snidely in a loud voice.

A couple of students along the corridor laughed at this while Garrett just glared at her, his pale cheeks flushing red in embarrassment. The Slytherin had looked as though he was about to give her an equally snide retort in return but then, after a few seconds he thought better of it, and he snapped his mouth shut. Still glaring at her, Garrett then shoved his hands into the pockets of his robes, narrowed his eyes and then strode into the classroom, ignoring the trail of sniggers behind him.

Laughing under her breath, Olivia watched as Garrett took the seat at the very far corner of the Potions classroom – the one where the Slytherins usually sat – and scowled silently at the table. Soon enough, a couple more Slytherins followed after him and Olivia couldn't help scoffing in disdain when she saw Penelope McConway entering the room, immediately taking the seat beside Garrett.

_Figures. _Olivia's scowl deepened somewhat when she noticed the way Penelope was practically attaching herself to Garrett's arm these days and how the Malfoy son wasn't even bothering to push her away. _Those two shallow gits deserve each other this hunting season. _She thought in disgust, watching as Penelope began snuggling against Garrett and Garrett just smirked at her, rolling his eyes.

From what Olivia had heard from the school gossip, Garrett Malfoy and Penelope McConway were practically only a _step _away from an actual engagement anyway – since their fathers, Draco Malfoy and Lucian McConway – had already promised each other a match that coming hunting season.

In all honesty, Olivia really couldn't say she was surprised with the news.

Garrett and Penelope had been a notoriously on – and – off couple since third year, and the only times that the two infamous Slytherins were rumored to be 'off' were those times that Penelope had apparently caught Garrett dating someone else – in other words, about every other week.

It wasn't all that implausible anyway, since even Olivia had to admit that the Slytherin was undoubtedly gorgeous – perhaps one of the most handsome boys in their year – and he had practically all the girls in school falling all over themselves for him. That, however, certainly didn't give him reason enough to be such a jerk, especially since his twin Gabriel was the complete opposite.

As that thought crossed her mind, Olivia's scowl darkened again and she glared at the back of Garrett's head in growing disgust. _What a disgusting, womanizing jerk…He's exactly like his father!_ She thought angrily, recalling all the horrible stories her parents had told her about Draco Malfoy.

In fact, her mother's stories about her own hunting seasons spoke _nothing else _than about how the Malfoys had sabotaged her family and how Draco Malfoy had humiliated her in front of all her friends. Apparently, Olivia's mother had once been engaged to Garrett's father but at some point, the Malfoys had revoked the agreement and had left Olivia's mother at the altar of their wedding day. Olivia's father, on the other hand, blamed the Malfoys for the collapse of their business – the day the Malfoys had _also _revoked the arranged marriage between Philippe Winchester and Lorraine Malfoy.

From then on, the business of the Winchester family had been on a rocky, downward spiral.

_What I don't understand though…_Olivia fused her eyebrows together in thought, dimly aware that more and more students were beginning to fill the Potions classroom. _Is how could such a nice and genuinely sincere person like Professor Jaimee mother a son like Garrett Malfoy? _She thought back on her DADA Professor – Olivia's only favorite teacher at Hogwarts – and sighed in confusion.

_I don't even understand why Mother hates Professor Jaimee so much— _Olivia suddenly blinked as her thoughts were interrupted when a flash of silver caught her eye, causing her to look up in confusion. She reeled back and nearly tripped over her own foot when she found herself staring at Gabriel Malfoy's friendly, handsome smile just as the Head Boy was walking down the corridor.

"Hey Livi."

She blushed immediately at his use of her nickname and couldn't help smiling back shyly at him, twiddling her thumbs nervously as he stopped in front of her. As always, Gabriel's platinum blonde hair was tousled and sticking up all over the place. His robes were impeccably neat, however, and seeing his handsome smile up close, Olivia couldn't help blushing darker and moving away.

"H—Hey Riel…" She stammered back in response, forcing another smile at him and nervously adjusting her bag strap over her shoulder. Gabriel's bright green eyes were warm as he grinned jokingly at her and indicated to the noisy classroom behind her. "Aren't you going to go in yet? Your class starts in five minutes I think, it'd be kind of ironic for the Head Girl to be late." He teased, earning an embarrassed laugh from Olivia as she finally snapped back to her senses and cringed.

"U—uh…Yeah, I guess I should. S—Sorry, my mind was just on something. I hadn't realized class was about to start." She smiled gratefully at him and indicated to her watch. "So…Are we still on later? Professor Longbottom said you'd be handling night watch for the West Wing while I take East?" She asked him and Gabriel nodded, laughing and ducking his head sheepishly behind his hand.

"Yeah, I think so…Though personally, I'd wish they'd given _you_ West. The West fifth floor corridors are filled with so many spiders at night, they creep me out." He kidded and at that, Olivia finally managed a genuine laugh and shoved him lightly away. "Don't be such a girl, Malfoy—_Oops!_"

She immediately cringed and a barrage of apologies began rushing out of her mouth when she realized, just as she had shoved lightly at Gabriel, that a small Hufflepuff boy in first year had been passing behind him at that exact same moment. In a span of seconds, Gabriel had crashed accidentally into the passing Hufflepuff behind him and being the smaller of the two, the boy had stumbled clumsily onto the floor – his entire bag of books and quills spilling out all around him.

Olivia's ears went red and she began apologizing almost immediately. "Oh Merlin's Beard, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there! That was my fault, I'm so sorry—" She was cut off when Gabriel had smiled reassuringly at her and straightened himself up, giving her a pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it…Not your fault, Livi. Here." He turned around and, before Olivia could react first, the Malfoy son was already kneeling down and helping the first year boy up from the floor and onto his feet. The boy, who quite frankly was now staring speechlessly up at Gabriel with a gaping, starstruck expression on his face, could only stutter and thank the Head Boy incoherently as Gabriel knelt down by the boy's feet again and began helping the boy gather his things back into his bag.

"Th—thank you…M—Malfoy—"

"It's _Gabriel…_Alvin, was it?" Gabriel handed the boy back his bag and grinned wryly at him, dusting off the small amounts of dirt still on the boy's shoulders. "You'd better get to class, Alvin…You wouldn't want to be late, I think Professor Longbottom is teaching you Summoning Charms today. That should prove to be a fun lesson, take it from me." He winked at him, causing Alvin to grin back.

"Th—thanks, Gabriel! I'd better go." He grinned up at the Head Boy again before he took his bag and tore off, running hastily down the corridor towards the direction of the Charms classroom.

For a few more seconds, both Olivia and Gabriel watched him go – waiting until the Hufflepuff had turned the corner and disappeared from their sight before they faced each other again. Unable to prevent herself, Olivia's eyes were wide and she was blushing once more as she smiled at him, her eyes warm with admiration. _How can someone like Gabriel be related to someone like Garrett…? _

She stared at him, watching as Gabriel arched at eyebrow at her in confusion before he shrugged and smiled. "Anyway, I'd better go…I have DADA next, I have to grab my books from my dormitory. I'll see you later?" He gave her a teasing smirk and indicated to the classroom behind her.

"By the way, I think you should go in now. The bell's going to ring…in about three seconds."

_RIIIIIIIIIING!_

Gabriel's eyes twinkled with laughter while Olivia's cringed and looked away in embarrassment.

"D-damn…I'll see you later then, Gabriel." She shot him one last smile as they parted ways, Gabriel heading back down the corridor towards Gryffindor towers and Olivia finally making her way towards the classroom entrance behind her. Just before Gabriel turned the corner, however, Olivia couldn't resist glancing at him one last time – and on her flush face was a dreamy, thoughtful smile.

_Maybe, Mother's wrong…_She smiled again, her gaze still lingering on the direction of the corridor Gabriel had gone. _…Maybe not all Malfoy men are as bad as she says…At least…Not Gabriel._

Olivia sighed to herself and she finally entered her Potions classroom – still with a goofy smile on her face. She never noticed the look another Malfoy was shooting her from across the room – particularly Garrett Malfoy – who happened to have witnessed Olivia's entire exchange with Gabriel.

And the blonde Slytherin did _not _look happy.

* * *

"Abigail."

The said student's eyes widened slightly in surprise at being addressed but soon enough, her bright blue orbs brightened warmly and she turned around to greet the blonde Ravenclaw behind her.

"Hale!"

Abigail Catherine Ashford-Malfoy smiled as she met her cousin's slightly narrowed gray eyes several feet away. As usual, her cousin's immaculate blonde locks looked nothing less than perfect and her make-up was flawless, highlighting the elegant curves of her face. Unfortunately, as beautiful as Hailene was, her features were also creased in disdain, as though she wasn't pleased to be there. Around them, she noticed that several of the students passing them in the narrow History of Magic corridors stopped briefly to stare at the two girls, curious about the two Malfoy daughters' interaction.

Undaunted, however, Abigail continued to smile at Hale anyway and offered a friendly shrug. "Hey Cous… How's your assignment for History of Magic? I just crammed mine right now, I barely finished on time." She admitted sheepishly and she ducked her head behind her hand with a grin.

She looked up at Hailene again, hoping to get a friendly answer from the other Malfoy.

In response, however, Hailene's long lashes just narrowed even further and her mercury eyes glanced briefly at Abigail's Hufflepuff robes in disdain. Then, in an instant, the resentful look was gone and Hailene flashed a saccharinely sweet, charming smile at her and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Oh don't you worry about it so much, _cousin—_" Hailene began, causing Abigail's smile to dim slightly when she noticed the sarcastic tone with which Hailene had said 'cousin'. "—I'm sure you feel no need to pressure or overachieve yourself anyway, I mean…After all, it's not as if you're actually a Malfoy by _blood_, right? You can be excused for your obvious imperfections." Hailene turned her nose up slightly and she poked grudgingly at the sleeves of Abigail's yellow embroidered school robes.

Abigail's ears burned red in embarrassment and she clenched her hands into angry fists.

"What is your problem? Why are you always so mean, what did I ever do to _you, _Hailene—"

Hailene smirked at her and interrupted her protests with a single wave of her hand. "Excuse me, dear _cousin, _I have other matters to attend to. Good day to you." She didn't wait for Abigail to answer as she turned and walked around the other girl as though she was an inanimate object.

Sighing and shaking her head, Abigail watched the Ravenclaw walk away with a resigned look on her face. A part of her knew it was hopeless – she knew the blonde had never quite forgiven her for entering the Malfoy family the way she did – adopted at the age of ten by Bryon Malfoy– and thus forever changing Hailene's then current status as the youngest girl of the family. From that moment onwards, she remembered that Hailene had always despised her, whether it was because she was adopted or because she divided the attention of the adults from Hailene, she'll never know.

"Abi!"

Blinking and shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Abigail looked up at the sound again and finally managed a smile at the student approaching her. Rolling her eyes, she laughed at her best friend's sleepy expression and began to make her way towards him, punching him on the shoulder.

"Aidan, you never really _were _a morning person were you? Just look at yourself." She teased her blonde cousin with a grin before she slung an arm easily over his shoulders. Still scowling, Aidan Lawrence Weasley Malfoy glared at her and shrugged her arm off his shoulders with a soft yawn.

"What was up with you and oh-so-perfect Hailene awhile ago?" He asked her curiously.

Sighing, he rubbed his eyes slightly and managed a weak, friendly smirk at her before gesturing to Hailene as she was entering their History classroom. The blonde prefect took her usual seat at the front of the classroom with her group of popular Ravenclaw friends and almost immediately, the group began giggling and discussing their dates for that afternoon. Sighing and rolling her eyes, Abigail tore her eyes away from Hailene and met Aidan's eyes again, who gave her a knowing smirk.

"Princess Brat bothering you again, huh? Don't let her affect you so much. You know she's nothing but a spoiled git." Aidan consoled her with a grin and chuckling lightly, he arched an eyebrow at her just as they began entering the classroom as well. "Father says it's all Uncle Draco's fault, spoiling her the way he did. Of course, Father never really had a high opinion of Uncle Draco either." He added as an afterthought, cringing as he and Abigail took their usual seats at the back of the room.

Amused, Abigail giggled at that and nodded in agreement, watching as more and more of her Hufflepuff housemates – as well as Aidan's own housemates from Ravenclaw – began filling the room. "Uncle Anton and Uncle Draco have always been at odds with each other, huh? Even Daddy says so." She mused, causing Aidan to smirk in agreement and run a hand through his silver-blonde hair.

"If you think it's bad _now, _imagine how much worse it'll get once Hunting Season starts this year. I'm not even of age yet and _already _my Father is pressuring me to look for an ideal match." He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I can only imagine the pressure Garrett and Gabriel are going through." He added, earning a cringe of agreement from Abigail as she thought about the situation.

"Well then I guess you'd better start looking for a girlfriend, huh?" She teased but to her surprise, Aidan's expression remained impassive and he stared at her, his blue eyes deep in thought. Blushing under his strange, intense gaze, Abigail laughed nervously and leaned back against her seat.

"Aidan?"

The Malfoy son nodded quietly and without saying anything else, he tore his eyes away from her and directed his attention to the front of the room where the Professor was beginning her lecture. Still blushing slightly and not exactly understanding why, Abigail gulped and promptly did the same.

"…And so, as part of your project this term, I want each and every one of you to write a full essay on the magical history of your parents. Now—" Their Professor smiled in amusement at the chorus of complaints that had suddenly filled the small History of Magic classroom but she continued, waving away the class' protests. "—I know, I know…It doesn't _have _to be such an impressive full in-depth history of your parents' magical history…In fact, it doesn't even have to be all about magic…I want to know _their _stories…More importantly, I want you _all _to know the history behind _your _being born…_Your _legacy…To help you understand yourself more… Is that clear?" She paused in the middle of writing out the details of the project on the board and turned around to check the students' reactions.

Most, if not all, were making faces and grudgingly complaining to the person behind them.

"Awww…Do we _have _to, Professor?"

"I don't _want _to know about my parents!"

"This is such a drag!"

Their Professor laughed and shook her head at all their comments, looking highly amused. "It will be an interesting experience for all of you, trust me. Now, to help you with this project, I will be assigning you into pairs…I have instructed the Head Girl and Head Boy to accompany each pair _TWO HOURS EACH _into the past to observe your parents…You will do this with a time-turner…Again—" She paused again when she noticed that the students were beginning to look more excited at her words.

"—_TWO HOURS ONLY…_Either the Head Girl or Head Boy will be there to accompany each pair, to make sure you do not disrupt any important events. Now, before anything else—_Yes, _Miss Malfoy?" The Professor nodded when she saw Hailene's raised hand and gestured for the student to speak up.

Smirking, Hailene narrowed her perfectly made-up eyes coyly and flicked her gaze casually to Abigail and Aidan seated at the back of the room. "I'm just curious Professor…You mentioned 'parents' magical histories'…Well, to be fair, I'd like to ask about those certain people, like say…_adopted people_ for example…" Hailene heard a few gasps around the room but she continued anyway. "…who don't actually _know _who their real parents are…How are they going to go about the project?" She asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes just as their History of Magic Professor glared disapprovingly at her.

At the back of the room, Abigail's face had gone beet red in humiliation and she had hastily turned her face down so that the rest of her classmates couldn't see the tears gathered in her eyes. She failed to notice that beside her, Aidan's eyes had narrowed angrily at Hailene's haughty expression across the room and he had reached out and placed a gentle hand over Abigail's in comfort.

Apparently, their Professor had the same reaction and was currently glaring at Hailene in disapproval. "Interesting, Miss Malfoy…In fact, since you asked that question…Let me rephrase myself. This project may _not _necessarily be about your parents…But I do want you to write about a person you consider your parental figure…It can be your guardian…Your godparents…Your grandparents, etc. Oh, and just for your cheek, Miss Malfoy—" Hailene's smug smile faded when she saw the expression their Professor was giving her. "—five points from Ravenclaw…You _and _Miss Ashford-Malfoy will be assigned partners for this project." She finished, causing both Hailene and Abigail to gape at her.

Sputtering, Hailene's pale cheeks flushed red in mortification. "P—Professor, you can't—"

"I can and I just did, Hailene. Now, on to this day's lesson." Their Professor didn't say anymore about the project after that and promptly began to discuss that day's topic. As she did, she failed to notice that Hailene and Abigail continued to glare accusingly at each other across the room.

* * *

As her thoughts swam on Hailene, Harry closed her eyes and dropped her head into her hands. One quick look at the clock in the corner of room warned her that her next class of seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins would be coming in soon so she stood up, rearranging the textbooks on her desk. Sure enough, within minutes, several students began entering the room and Harry nodded briefly to them, indicating silently for them to take their seats and prepare their assignments.

Gabriel, along with his two best friends Daniel and Annie, were among the first few students to arrive, while as usual, Garrett, Penelope McConway and a few other Slytherins were among the last. Gabriel nodded once at his mother before he and his friends took their usual seats in front while Garrett, on the other hand, had done the opposite, and headed for the very back of the room.

That, however, did not prevent the older Malfoy son from walking up to Harry just as he was passing her desk and greeting his smiling mother with his usual affectionate peck on her cheek. Harry chuckled at him and nodded back, watching as Garrett took his usual seat at the back of the class.

Almost immediately, Penelope took the seat beside him and clung herself to his arm, causing Garrett to roll his eyes at her and shoot his mother an exasperated look from the end of the room. Harry just smirked at him, shaking her head to herself in silent amusement. 

_How fast time flies, I'll never know. He acts so much like his father…And yet, he doesn't realize it._ She smiled to herself again and muffled a chuckle when she saw Garrett pushing Penelope away from him with a scowl.

_"Penelope, would you stop fussing over me for ONE second?" _

They heard a couple of chuckles and whispers amongst their classmates. Still laughing, Harry eventually turned away from the scene and began to prepare her notes for that day's lecture. Behind her, she noticed that Gabriel was beginning to ready his things for class and chuckling, Harry took that moment to observe her younger son as well. Unlike Draco or Garrett, Riel liked to keep his hair loose and he mussed up the blond strands so that they stuck up messily in different directions. In fact, if Harry didn't know any better, she could have said that Riel's hair looked exactly the way _hers _used to.

He didn't smirk or lean back casually against his seat like Garrett did but instead, Gabriel's movements were more relaxed and easygoing, and every so often, he would run a hand through his hair to mess it up even further. Harry noticed that the girl beside Riel, Annie Williams, seemed to be glancing at him a lot and Riel always smiled warmly at her, which Annie returned with one of her own.

Then, as Gabriel turned back to his books and unconciously began to tug on his earlobes in thought, Harry laughed.

_Merlin's beard, he even tugs on his earlobes like I do when deep in thought. It's like watching a blonde, Malfoy-fied copy of myself._ Harry smirked at the thought and shook her head. Turning back to face the board, she didn't bother glancing at Gabriel when she addressed him in a clear voice.

"You can put your books and parchments away, Gabriel. We won't be needing them today." She began and after waving her wand to clean the board, she turned back around and smiled at the class. "Today, we'll be having a hands-on exercise, and you'll all be practicing your magical combat skills. I want you all prepared and beefed-up for your finals next month. Now, first thing's first. Leave your things, grab your wands and follow me to the Dueling Room." She told them with a slight grin.

As she turned around, she noticed that – as always – nearly every student in the class stood up and followed after her immediately, their faces lighting up in excitement. Laughing, Harry led them to their usual Dueling area situated just behind their classroom and waited at the front of the room.

"Come along then, quickly…We have a fairly interesting lesson ahead of us today." She told them with a smile, waiting until all of the students had gathered into a small semi-circle around her before she began. "Now…I'll be grouping you all in pairs today, you'll be needing partners for this exercise - a hands-on magical combat. I'll be teaching you some new spells as well…Mostly for defensive maneuvers – _Yes, _Mister Nott?" Harry paused and raised an eyebrow at the brown-haired Slytherin boy standing beside Garrett who had been raising his hand.

The son of Theodore Nott and Daphne Greengrass, Edwin Thomas Nott smirked at her and spoke up in a calm drawl. "Didn't _you _use a magical combat to choose amongst your suitors during your hunting season, Professor?" He asked and several of his housemates chuckled at this, amidst Garrett glaring at them and muttering darkly under his breath. Harry merely arched an eyebrow at this but Garrett and Gabriel both saw the slight shade of pink that had tinged their mother's cheeks.

"That will do, Mister Nott. Now, everyone… As I was saying, I'll be teaching you some new defensive spells today…As well as a handful of good counter hexes and jinxes which you may find useful. But first, before we begin with all that, I just have a very important announcement to make. Please pay attention." Harry paused again for a couple of seconds and her eyes darted to the doors at the far side of the room. Curious, some of the students followed her gaze but before they saw what she was staring at, she flicked her gaze at the class again and gave them all a mischievous grin.

"As you all know, I will be on leave for the next couple of days." She frowned and glanced at the calendar at the side of the room. "I'll actually be gone for about two weeks…And by the time I get back, there will hardly be enough classes for me to get you ready for your finals. So, in line with that—" Harry paused again and smiled when she saw Garrett and Gabriel's confused glances at her.

"—I will be assigning, in my absence, a substitute teacher who will be in charge of helping you guys with your magical combat training. He'll actually be assisting me here today in teaching this lesson, as well as helping all of you with your combat skills—" Harry couldn't help laughing when the entire class had burst into excited murmuring and whispers at this but she continued. "—none of you have _anything _to worry about, the substitute I will be leaving in my place is _more _than capable of teaching you about anything DADA related. I think you'll all find that you'll get along very well."

From the very back of the crowd, Harry saw that Garrett had tossed a balled-up piece of paper at his twin brother's head to get his attention. Annoyed, Gabriel whirled around and glared at him but strangely enough, he understood the unspoken question in Garrett's eyes and he shrugged back.

"So, before anything else, allow me to introduce your substitute teacher for the next 2 weeks—" Amused, Harry glanced at the doors to the classroom again before grinning and looking at the class. "He was the Head of the Unspeakable Department in the Ministry of Magic for ten years, and following that, he is now currently working under the Minister of Magic himself as Vice-Minister for Inter-Magical Strategy and Defense." Harry smirked as the room was suddenly filled with a few gasps.

"Please welcome…My cousin-in-law, Vice-Minister Byron Malfoy!"

* * *

**A/N: **AAAAAND, that's should be enough for now. BWAHAHAHA. *Insert evil Malfoy laughter* And yes, yes, before anything else, I know, I know. Hailene is such a BEEYATCH! Even I'm beginning to hate her. But rest assured, her character development is actually related to the major plot of this story. :D

So…Who's excited to see Byron again? ^_^

**Next Chapter: **We see the twins in DADA Training with Harry and Byron, Another surprise guest comes to Hogwarts (dun-dun-dun!), and perhaps we'll shed a little light on Gabriel for a change. :D

**I PROMISE **that I will try to get the next chapter of this up faster than this one, I know you're all rather angry at me right now for the long wait. Ehehe. Oh and should any of you have any questions or are a bit confused about the next gen characters and their parents , just PM me and I'll answer you as soon as I can. :D

So with that, **PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A REVIEW, MMKAY? CHEERS! **:D


	4. Blasts from the Past

**Title: The Perfect Mother**

**Author: **slytherin-nette

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters you recognize from the HP books in this story. All I own is the plot. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling. She rocks.

**Pairings: **DM/femHP, GrM/?, Gb/?, HM/?, Many others. :D

**Warnings: **This is a **NEXT GENERATION **story based on the characters and universe of TPG/TPW so hopefully, you've all read those two stories first before attempting to read this one. Also, be warned of slow updates on this story as I will be focusing most of my attention on my other two stories.

**A/N**: Lookie, lookie, everyone! It's an update! It's an actual update! I actually kept my promise and updated quickly this time, just as I said I would! Awww… Don't you all just love me now? *HUGS FOR EVERYONE* So…What's there to say? I'd like you all to note that THIS is the chapter the plot officially takes off…And on that note, I hope you all enjoy reading! :D

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Blasts from the Past**

"Please welcome…My cousin-in-law, Vice-Minister Byron Malfoy!"

A couple dozen pairs of eyes riveted to the front of the room, where supposedly Harry had expected Byron to make his grand entrance. To her confusion, however, the dark-haired Malfoy was nowhere to be found and she frowned at this, feeling her cheeks flushing in slight embarrassment.

"Er…Byron?"

Coughing loudly and pretending to give her students a sheepish smile, Harry cleared her throat and tried again. "Hmm. Must not have spoken loud enough…_Byron? _You're up!" She forced a grin onto her face but her eyes looked mildly irritated as she made her way to the dueling room doors.

Frowning, Harry peeked her head out of the room, looking around the hallway.

From the very front of the class, Garrett had moved to stand beside Gabriel and nudged his younger twin brother in question. Unfortunately, Gabriel just shrugged back and shook his head.

"Byron?" Harry sighed and shook her head as she was walking back into the room. "Anyway, maybe he isn't here yet. So while we all wait for him, we can start with our exercises—_WHOA!" _Cursing out loud, Harry's eyes suddenly snapped wide open and she ducked, evading quickly behind her table, just as a stray fireball had materialized out of nowhere and had come flying right at her face.

The fireball had missed her only by a few inches, lightly scorching the ends of her robe sleeves. As it whizzed past her and extinguished itself just as it hit the dueling room walls, Harry's eyes narrowed in realization. Smirking, she straightened herself up and yanked her wand out of her pockets.

"Nice try, Byron." She grinned and before Garrett, Gabriel or any other of her gaping students could react, Harry had ducked sharply again, successfully evading another fireball that had come flying at her from the opposite corner of the room. Narrowing her eyes, Harry turned back around and glanced around the room carefully, unaware of the sudden hush that had fallen over her students.

After a few seconds, the former Gryffindor suddenly froze in her tracks.

"_Byron!"_

Harry cursed out loud again as she felt the rush of air of what felt like someone's fist aiming right for her. Without thinking, she twisted herself around the force and evaded by maneuvering into a somersault against the classroom wall in front of her. The minute she had done this, she saw through Byron's well-placed concealing charm immediately and smirking, she twisted her arm around his neck.

"Gotcha!" She grinned and she was just about to spin him around when Byron suddenly surprised her by laughing and reappearing from his concealing charm. Grinning, he turned his head slightly to the side and finally addressed Harry for the first time over his left shoulder. "Hiya Harry!"

Byron didn't give her a chance to respond after that as he had raised his wand and pointed it directly at the ceiling of the room. To everyone's amazement, a light adhesive rope suddenly shot out of his wand, attaching itself firmly to the classroom ceiling. This allowed the metamorphagus enough leverage as he smirked and used the rope to pull himself upwards, yanking himself free from Harry's grasp until he was hanging on the rope, upside down, dangling from the ceiling. Still grinning, he glanced down at the students' gaping expressions at him and winked, turning to smile at Harry.

"So…How have you been holding up, Harry?" He grinned again when Harry answered him with a laugh. Shaking her head, she crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at him with a wry grin.

"Technically, I should be asking you the same thing, Byron." Arching an eyebrow, Harry lifted her wand and pointed it at him, releasing the rope from the ceiling and causing Byron to yell in panic.

"Hey—!"

_**THUD!**_

"Show-off." Rolling her eyes, Harry raised her wand again, lifting her disgruntled cousin-in-law from the dueling room floor until he was upright and giving their students a sheepish grin. "As I was saying, everyone…I'd like you all to meet your substitute teacher…This is Byron Malfoy." Harry announced again, shaking her head in dismay when Byron rewarded the class a mischievous smirk.

"Hey everyone…" Still smirking, Byron's eyes riveted directly over to Garrett and Gabriel and he winked at them, causing both teenagers to groan loudly. "Especially to my two hideous godsons over there." He added, looking back at Harry again with a grin. "What are we doing today, Professor?"

Harry opened her mouth to respond but before she could say anything, Byron interrupted her again and he turned more fully to inspect the class of students before him. "Soo…We've got the cynical, know-it-all seventh-years today, huh…? Oh and lucky me, a class of seventh-year Gryffindors and Slytherins, isn't that lovely? Brings back memories, eh Harry?" Byron grinned pointedly at Harry, who rolled her eyes at the sarcasm in his voice and sighed as she turned back to address the class.

"I'm teaching today's exercise with Byron, just as a transition for you all before I leave. Since today will be a practical activity, I'd like you all to pair-up first—" Even before Harry had finished her sentence, most of the students were already beginning to pair themselves up. "—and move to a comfortable area somewhere within the room." Within a couple of seconds, Gabriel had already paired himself up with Annie, while a scowling Garrett had ended up being paired with Parker Skeffington.

As they waited, Byron took his place beside Harry and twirled his wand around his fingers.

"So."

Arching an eyebrow, Harry turned to look at him, giving him an amused, questioning look.

"So…You really think you can handle them for a few days?" She asked, laughing when Byron just made a face at her and chuckled, shoving his wand back into his robes. Running a hand through his hair, he took the lesson plan from Harry's hands and skimmed through it in obvious boredom.

"I suppose I don't really have that much of a choice…Besides—" He grinned again and set the lesson plans back down on her desk. "It'll give me a good opportunity to check-up on Abigail from time to time." Byron couldn't help smiling at the mention of his 15-year-old adopted daughter.

"Abigail's doing wonderfully. She made the Quidditch team, by the way. She's a Chaser—"

"Yeah, so I heard." Byron nodded at Harry in affirmation, smirking as he watched Gabriel talking closely with Annie. "I also heard Gabriel's in running to be Valedictorian this year… Congratulations then. I've been hearing nothing else from Draco back home." He commented, causing Harry to laugh again and roll her eyes. "Well, Gabriel has always idolized his father." She agreed.

"And Garrett…?" Byron's expression sobered as he turned his gaze to Garrett instead, watching as the blonde Slytherin seemed to be caught in a heated argument with Parker Skeffington. "I've heard about his disciplinary cases this year… If the prat's not careful, he could wind up being suspended from school." He said worriedly and at this, Harry winced and nodded slowly in response.

"Tell me about it." She muttered under her breath, massaging her neck. "Garrett isn't a horrible boy, he's just misunderstood…and so bloody reckless. He _tries _to do good…But the problem is he just doesn't think about the consequences of his actions." Harry shook her head and shrugged.

To her surprise, however, Byron was smiling fondly at her in amusement.

"In that sense, he's…like _you_." He told her softly, instantly causing Harry to pause and blink up at him, her eyes growing wide with realization. When Byron just smirked at her expression, Harry managed a weak, surprised laugh. "I guess…I never really thought about it that way." She admitted.

Byron laughed but before he could say anything else, Harry had turned to address the class again. "Alright, alright… Does everyone have their partners? Are we all set? Good, now—" She led Byron over to the center of the room, stopping as they reached a white circle drawn on the floor.

"—today's exercise—" Harry nodded to Byron, indicating for him to stand just by the other end of the circle. "—will be all about utilizing a favorite defensive spell of mine… I'm sure you've all heard it before. Some of you may even already be using it. So first thing's first…Say it with me—_PROTEGO!"_

_ "PROTEGO!" _

"Good!" Harry grinned at the class' exact intonation of the spell. "Once more—_PROTEGO!"_

_ "PROTEGO!" _

"Alright then, we're good. So, the rules of this little exercise are quite simple." She flicked her gaze over to Byron again and indicated for him to step into the white circle. The metamorphagus jokingly pretended to yawn in boredom but obliged, twirling his wand around between his fingers.

Harry ignored him and continued. "You and your partner will take turns…" She paused and stepped into the circle with Byron as well. "Your partner will be bombarding you with as many hexes and jinxes within three minutes, you all remember the hexes and jinxes I taught you last time?"

When most of the seventh-years had nodded their affirmation, Harry grinned. "Good, that should be enough. So, your partner will be bombarding you with as many spells as possible in an attempt to make you step _OUT _of the circle. _You, _on the other hand, will be using _'protego', _or if you'd like to get creative and use other defensive spells, go right ahead. _Your _objective will be to stay _in _the circle at all times. The first student who steps out, _loses. _Clear, so far?" She paused to look at them.

Again, they nodded and Harry continued. "So…To demonstrate this…Er…Byron, pick someone." She stepped out of the circle and looked at him, causing Byron to shoot her a mischievous grin. Peeking his golden-brown eyes at the sea of curiously watching students, he looked directly at Garrett.

"Gar, get over here." Byron drawled, smirking at the thoroughly disgruntled expression on Garrett's face as he walked slowly to the front of the room. As the Slytherin stepped into the circle with Byron, a few seventh-year Slytherins cheered him on, eliciting a couple of laughs from the room.

Chuckling, Harry watched as Byron and Garrett both took their customary bows to one another, signaling their assent before both Malfoys positioned themselves into a fighting stance. Then, when Garrett got into a defensive position, Harry nodded her approval and spoke up in a loud voice.

"Garrett will be defending first, Byron will be trying to dislodge him from the circle. Now, everyone…Watch carefully." Harry didn't need to say anything else and somehow, she sensed that the class was no longer paying attention to her and were now watching as Byron readied his first strike.

"Three minutes, Byron…On my count…Three…two…one…_Go!" _

Harry stepped back and watched as relentlessly, Byron began casting as many hexes, jinxes, and all sorts of force spells he could towards Garrett as possible – pausing only so he could ready his stance before firing another spell at the younger Malfoy again. Without so much as a blink, however, Garrett was able to evade and counter-hex each one easily, even managing as far as to fire a few offensive spells of his own against Byron – who of course had managed to block the spells easily.

"Keep it up, Garrett!" Harry had called out loudly to him, cupping her hands over her mouth.

When after a few minutes of this had passed and Byron still hadn't managed to set Garrett back even by one _foot_, the metamorphagus finally took a step back and charged a magically advanced fireball from his wand. Then, with a grin, he hurled the large fireball towards Garrett, who immediately stepped back and gaped at him, his green eyes growing wide at the rather unexpected maneuver.

"Uncle Byron! No fair—"

Garrett cut himself off seconds before the fireball almost hit him. To everyone's amazement, instead of protecting himself by 'protego' or countering the spell, the Slytherin evaded it by shooting himself into the air with a somersault – much like the one Harry had done at the start of the class.

While he had done this, Byron had chosen that moment to lunge forward towards where Garrett had originally been standing, attempting to yank the younger Malfoy back down to the floor but by then, Garrett had already anticipated his movements. Even before he had landed, Garrett had already readied his wand and pointed it directly at Byron, shouting out a spell while he was still suspended upside down in mid-air.

"_EXPELLIARMUS!"_

The whole class suddenly burst into loud cheers and applause. Harry was smiling proudly as the soles of Garrett's feet had landed neatly back on the floor. Her son was smirking in self-satisfaction as he righted himself back up, gingerly shoving his wand back into his pockets. With that, he held Byron's disarmed wand up in his other hand, twirling it victoriously between his pale fingers.

From where he had been blasted out of the circle onto the other side of the room, Byron was grinning and clapping as well as he stood back up, giving Garrett a thumbs-up."Bloody brilliant! Bloody brilliant, I say, just like your Mother! Now—" Byron pretended to brush the dust from his shirt as he walked back towards Garrett and held out his hand. "—if you'll just give me back my wand—"

Garrett's smirk dissolved into a laugh but he obliged, handing the older Malfoy back his wand.

Rolling his eyes, Byron grinned at him and snatched the wand away in mock admonishment. "_Don't _get cocky, Garrett, I _let _you win." He quipped, earning another round of laughter from the class. "I'd like to stress the fact that the only person who has ever beaten me in a magical combat, to date, was your mother…And I certainly don't want to ruin my reputation by adding her son to that list." He added as an afterthought and this time, both Harry and Garrett smirked at him in amusement.

"Suure. _Keep _telling yourself that, Uncle Byron." Garrett drawled but he was still laughing as he walked back to his place at the back of the room. On the other hand, Harry was shaking her head as she resumed her position beside Byron, giving the metamorphagus a light pat on the back.

"Nice incrimination there, Byron…Good work, Garrett. Five points to Slytherin." She smiled at him, failing to notice the way Gabriel had been scowling the entire time during the entire exchange. As both Harry and Byron indicated for the rest of the class to follow the demonstration and begin their own exercise, Gabriel eventually tuned everyone else out and began to fume silently to himself.

* * *

_Oh so Garrett manages to actually be 'good' at ONE subject and suddenly, HE'S the one that draws all the attention? I'M the one who's bloody better in practically everything else! _Gabriel's green eyes narrowed further and unconsciously, he began glaring at his mother as though it was her fault.

Unaware of his attention, however, Harry continued to discuss a few final hints and pointers to the rest of the class while Byron was already beginning to assist some of the other students in front.

_And what is it with Mom anyway, why does she always favor Garrett more than she does me? He's the one that's always causing trouble, anyway! I'm the one who hasn't given her any problems! I'm the one who doesn't give her constant headaches! I'm the good son, not Garrett! _Gabriel was still scowling when Annie, who had been standing right beside him, suddenly began tugging on his arm.

"Riel, come on! Let's get started!" She urged and nodding, Gabriel managed to give her a quick, distracted smile as he followed her to the end of the room. His thoughts were still on Garrett though, and even as Annie was readying her stance in front of him, Gabriel was still lost in thought.

_You would think Mom would give ME a little bit of credit for putting up with everything just to be the perfect son for our family…All those good grades, Quidditch trophies, academic medals... But nooo…She still rewards Garrett for being the subversive black sheep of the family! _Unaware of the current direction his own thoughts, Gabriel was beside himself with agitation now and unconsciously, the Gryffindor was already gritting his teeth and gripping his wand in growing anger.

In front of him, Annie's features were already creased in confusion and she was calling out repeatedly to him in an attempt to get his attention.

"Gabriel? Gabriel, are you ready?"

_And while Garrett's out there doing whatever he wants and still getting bloody rewarded for it, I'm the one being forced into an arranged marriage, being forced into being the Malfoy Heir, being forced into pushing myself to do everything until my head's practically about to explode!_ Again, Gabriel nodded distractedly back at Annie in front of him and half-heartedly assumed a dueling stance.

_Well, what if I don't WANT to be forced anymore? What if I want to be like Garrett and live my own life, what would Mom and Father think then? _He fumed and his fingers unconsciously tightened around his wand. _What if I don't WANT to be the next Malfoy Heir? Or be forced into marriage? Why do I have to be one who suffers?_ Gabriel's eyes were flashing as he glared at Garrett across the room.

_Stupid DADA…I never even liked this subject anyway. Who cares if Garrett's better at it than me?_ He added moodily to himself. Still scowling, Gabriel was about to turn his attention back to Annie again when suddenly, one of the students in the circle adjacent to theirs called his attention, forcing him to look to his right. His eyebrows rose slightly as he was met with one of Marissa Goldstein's flirtatious smiles. Unable to stop himself, Gabriel smiled back at her just as she called out to him.

"Good luck, Gabriel!"

Gabriel rewarded her with a friendly wink and thumbs-up sign.

"You too, Marissa—_HEY! ANNIE!_"

Blinking and gaping in shock, the rest of Gabriel's words were cut short when a sudden barrage of hexes and jinxes suddenly came flying at him – forcing him to back up a few steps.

_"ANNIE, WAIT! I WASN'T READY! ANNIE? STOP IT—"_

Gabriel held up his wand, barely managing to put up a feeble shield around himself which collapsed instantly against the strength of Annie's magic. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to stop the other Gryffindor from attacking him, however, and soon Gabriel could only gape helplessly and defend or shield himself again and again as a furious Annie continued to hurl spell after spell towards him.

"A—Annie, wait—" He winced as another powerful spell shattered against his feeble attempts at _'protego'. _He stumbled backwards a few steps, his feet teetering dangerously close to the outline of the circle. "Annie, are you mad at me or something? Would you hold up a minute, just wait—" Gabriel stumbled backwards again, his feet now mere inches away from the white outline of the dueling circle.

"You…clueless…ignorant…_jerk!_" Annie's face was red and she was practically fuming as she fired another jinx at him, this time aiming it right at his face. Gabriel managed to evade this one but ended up yelping out loud, the sound drawing the attention of most other students around the room.

Feeling his face flushing pink in embarrassment, Gabriel tried to slow Annie down again by calling out to her. Unfortunately, the next few words out of his mouth were about to seal his fate.

"Annie, come on! Why are you so angry, anyway? Is it that time of the month again?"

Annie's eyes flashed and her cheeks flushed a deep, angry red.

"_…GRAAAAARGH! MALFOY!"_

Blinking, Gabriel looked up across the room just in time to see Garrett smirking at him.

_"_Did I say something wrong—?"

The last thing Gabriel remembered, about five seconds after the last of Annie's barrage of hexes finally hit him, was that just as he was transfigured into a small, fluffy white, bouncing _ferret _– Garrett, Annie, Daniel, Byron – and even _Harry_ had all burst out laughing. From there, his humiliation had gotten the better of him and Gabriel felt his horrified ferret eyes roll up to the back of his head.

And then Gabriel Malfoy was out like a light.

* * *

"Rotten teacher…Who does she think she is pairing me with that…_orphan? _Ugh, I can't even believe she's my cousin!" She complained loudly to Valerie just as they were walking towards their Potions classroom. Valerie rolled her eyes at loud Hailene's grumbling and led them over to their usual seat near the front of the room. "Oh give it a rest, Hale…The class is over, nothing we can do about it now." She pointed out irritably just as she and Hale were beginning to prepare their Potion cauldrons.

Glowering at her, Hailene answered her with an angry scoff and inspected her manicured nails in boredom. "Abigail thinks she's so special…Just because she's so bloody nice and friends with everyone. Well, I think she's pathetic…I mean, she doesn't even know who her parents are." She added with a scoff but again, Valerie's response as to roll her eyes at her again and glare at her.

"Hailene, would you give it a rest? I couldn't care less about Abigail—"

"_Settle down, settle down everyone! Please take your seats!" _

Interrupted by the sudden voice that had spoken, Hailene and Valerie both blinked in surprise and looked up, their eyes immediately riveting to the entrance of the small classroom. They recognized the Head Girl, Olivia Winchester, easily as she walked into the Potions classroom and gave them all a smile, indicating for the group to keep quiet. When the class obliged, Olivia smiled at them and stopped at the very front of the room, causing all of the students' eyes to widen in confusion.

"Good afternoon, housemates! How are your classes today? Still alive?" Olivia began with an easy grin, earning several half-hearted smiles from her fellow Ravenclaws as they nodded at her. When everyone stared expectantly at her again, she chuckled, her eyes flicking to the room entrance.

"Unfortunately, I'm sure you've all heard…Professor Snape will not be available for the next two weeks—" At once, Olivia's announcement with a chorus of cheers and excited whispers from the fifth-years but the Head Girl continued, giving them all an amused smile. "—he, Professor Malfoy and Headmaster Dumbledore will be off on an important errand outside school. On that note, he's left you all several assignments—" Again, Olivia's lips twitched when the cheers dissolved into a chorus of boos.

"—which you _will _need to submit by the end of the term. _Now…_" Olivia paused and glanced back at the room entrance again, nodding once in acknowledgment before turning back to face the class. "Not to worry, Professor Snape has _also _left you all a substitute teacher for the next two weeks—" Another chorus of whispers and conversations around the room erupted but Olivia just continued. "—he's an _Assistant Professor, _actually…He just graduated last year, some of you may still remember him." Olivia smiled and gestured to the tall figure standing near the room entrance.

"Ranking top of his class, he graduated Valedictorian of his batch exactly _one _year ago and was, notably, the only student to have received the highest marks for Potions in his year." Olivia pretended to roll her eyes and finally stepped back as a handsome, black-cloaked boy entered the room. "So everyone, please welcome your new Assistant Professor for the next two weeks—"

"_James?"_

Hailene's eyes were wide and her voice had noticeably cracked as she stared up at the handsome boy in front of her, her pale cheeks already beginning to redden in embarrassment. As he was, _James Regulus Black, _her brother's best friend, blinked as soon as he noticed her seated at the very front of the room. Without hesitation, James flashed a smile at her, his eyes alight with mirth.

"Hale Storm!" He laughed when he saw the way Hailene had instantly flinched at her hated childhood nickname and shrank back in her seat. She watched as James stopped just at the very front of the classroom. The former Slytherin looked at them, giving the class one of his handsome smiles.

"Well…This is…certainly awkward." James' grin widened slightly when he saw the look of shocked stares he was getting from the fifth year Ravenclaws. "Thank you for that _lovely _introduction, Winchester." He made a face at Olivia, causing the gaping class to erupt into amused laughter. "But that was certainly uncalled for, I'm sure most of these guys here remember who I am. Right?" He winked at the class again for effect and sure enough, they smiled at him and nodded their assent.

Rolling her eyes, Olivia glanced briefly at her wristwatch before giving James a pointed glare. "Anyway, I won't stay long, Black. I have other duties to attend to. Will you be alright, now?" She asked him but James just scoffed at her and leaned against the table, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm sure I can manage, Winchester." He drawled teasingly and with that, he arched a single eyebrow and turned to the rest of the class. "So…Who's sleepy?" He flashed another grin and nodded his gratitude to Olivia, which the Head Girl returned just before she walked back out of the room. As soon as Olivia was gone, James had turned to the class again and without warning, he plopped himself down, Indian-style, onto Snape's desk and suddenly smirked at all of them, his gray eyes twinkling.

"Sorry about that, I hadn't actually expected Winchester to introduce me with all that useless information. If I had, I would have stopped her sooner." He heard a few girls giggling in front at his quip but he continued, rifling distractedly through the bundle of parchments on Snape's desk. "In _any _case, if any of you still remember me, my name is James Black…and I'll be your Assistant Professor while Snape's away." He found the lesson plan he was looking for and stroked his chin in thought.

"Hmm—" James smirked as he finally raised his bright gray eyes to stare at them again, unaware of the way Hailene was currently staring at him and was shifting shyly around in her seat. "—it says here that Professor Snape has begun teaching you last time how to brew the most basic form of the Polyjuice Potion…Level 1 intensity." He scoffed and rolled his eyes, tossing the lesson plan aside. "Forget about that, that's _way _too easy for you Ravenclaws…Let's try something a little more challenging, shall we?" James finally hopped off the teacher's desk and walked to the blackboard.

"Now, the Polyjuice Potion…can actually be brewed in _THREE _varying intensities, with each level harder to brew than the last. Today, we're going to try brewing a potion of Level Three—"

_"Psst!" _

Hailene nearly jumped and suddenly blinked herself out of her dazed staring, turning to look at Valerie just as her best friend had nudged her sharply in the side. Shooting the other girl an irritated glare, Hailene narrowed her eyes at her and nudged her back in annoyance. "What?"

Giggling, Valerie indicated to James in front of the room again with a knowing smirk and she looked at Hailene with an amused expression. "James is really so _cute, _isn't he? He hasn't chosen a wife yet, right? Haven't you had like the _biggest _crush on him since…_forever?" _She teased further, causing her best friend to redden even more in embarrassment and shake her head firmly. Refusing to look at her, Hailene pretended to busy herself by writing down James' instructions into her notebook.

"_Shhh. _Val, I'm trying to pay attention." She answered quietly but her scowl deepened when Valerie's only response was to laugh at her again and give her a disbelieving smirk. "Suuure, you are." The two of them glanced back over at James again and watched as the former Slytherin began writing the needed ingredients on the blackboard while discussing to the class the steps to brew the potion.

After a couple of minutes, Valeria feigned a sigh and pretended to give Hailene a wistful look. "You're lucky, Hale…Isn't James, like, Garrett's best friend or something? You probably still get to see him on a regular basis…While the rest of us females have to settle for moments like these." She laughed when Hailene answered her by making a face at her and pretended to look disinterested.

"It's not like he comes to see _me _when he comes over, he and Garrett are usually always out. I barely even get the chance to speak to him." She glowered back in response as she wrote down James' instructions, unaware of the smirk Valerie was sending her at the implication of her words.

Frowning, she realized about fifteen seconds later that Valerie was trying hard not to laugh and Hailene looked up, her eyes narrowing in annoyance. "What's so funny, Val?" She snarled at the other girl but Valerie just laughed harder, her eyes darting back and forth between Hale and James.

"Merlin's beard…" She shot Hale a smug, knowing smirk and arched an eyebrow at her.

"You still _like _him—"

Hailene's pale cheeks flushed red as she opened her mouth to retort but Valerie interrupted her again before she got the chance, trying desperately to muffle her amused giggles behind her hand.

"—you've had the biggest thing for him since you were ten, even though he was the _only_ guy who's never given you the time of day… and yet you're _still _pining after him…Even after all these years… How cute, you're still that shy, blushing girl you were five years ago." Valerie giggled again when Hailene's flush intensified. "So why don't you go after him, Hale? You _do _realize that hunting season begins next week; James might find an actual match this time. He completely skipped over his hunting season last year." She pointed out but again, Hailene just scowled and glared darkly at her.

"Shhh! Shut up, he might hear you! I am not _pining _after James, I just—" Hailene's mouth snapped shut and she immediately cut herself when James turned back around to face the class.

"Alright! So…Why don't we get started, then? I believe the ingredients are on the other side of the room, kindly prepare what you'll be needing before we begin." He smiled at Hailene and Valerie's direction and almost immediately Hailene smiled back, her cheeks a lovely shade of dark pink.

"Professor?" Valerie had raised her hand to call James' attention, ignoring the warning glare Hailene was shooting her. Turning back around from the board, James raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes, Miss Cunningham?"

"I don't think Hailene is feeling well, she's looking a bit flushed." She smothered the urge to laugh when Hailene practically sputtered beside her and reacted by looking up at James in shock.

"N—no, James—_Professor, _I'm fine! I'm just a little under the weather—" Hailene's stammered when James immediately walked over to her, frowning as he pressed his palm against her forehead.

"Hmmm." He moved his hand and rested the back of his palm against her neck. "You don't _seem _to have a fever or anything. You feeling alright, Hale Storm? Do you want to step out of the room for awhile?" He asked her in concern as he met her gaze but Hailene just shook her head in response, dropping her eyes back shyly to her lap so as to avoid having to meet his gray eyes.

She tried to ignore the sniggers from her housemates around her at having heard James address her with her pet name, 'Hale Storm', and nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I—I'm fine, Professor. Thank you." Hale whispered back meekly, fully aware of the fact that Valerie, as well as most of their housemates, were all staring at her with knowing smirks on their face.

James didn't look all that convinced with her response but nevertheless, he nodded and went back over to the front of the class to continue his discussion. As soon as he had walked away, Hailene's heartbeat began to return to normal and she directed a fierce, angry glare right at Valerie.

"Shut up."

Valerie just smirked at her.

* * *

"Good morning, Ferret—"

"Oh shut up, you two."

Annie and Daniel were desperately trying to avoid each other's eyes, both Gryffindors still sniggering under their breaths as they followed after a red-faced Gabriel that Saturday morning. As they turned the corner and finally entered the Great Hall for breakfast, Gabriel shot both of his best friends warning glares again, his green eyes narrowed when he saw the mirth lingering on their face.

"Not _one _word."

Grinning, Daniel opened his mouth to speak but Gabriel rounded him instantly and snapped.

"I said bugger off, Dan—"

Gabriel stopped when Daniel suddenly sniggered, cutting him off.

"I was _just _going to ask what time it was…That's all." Daniel's lips twitched as Gabriel glared at him again but nevertheless, the Head Boy answered, his cheeks tinged slightly in embarrassment.

"It's…7AM." Gabriel grumbled, scowling as he led his two laughing best friends over to the Gryffindor table. As they sat down, Annie finally flashed an apologetic smile at him, shaking her head.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry, Riel… I didn't mean to embarrass you like that." She looked up and met Gabriel's eyes across the table, noting the way Gabriel's scowl eased up into a small smile. Sighing, he shook his head at this and answered her with a sheepish chuckle. "It was my fault… I wasn't paying attention to you." He admitted, earning a poorly muffled scoff of agreement from Daniel.

"Bugger off."

"I didn't say anything, Riel."

Rolling his eyes, Gabriel ignored him and proceeded to scoop some food onto his plate, completely unaware of the pointed glare Annie had sent Daniel over Gabriel's shoulder. Eventually, a comfortable silence fell over them as the trio began to help themselves to breakfast. It was only after about fifteen more minutes that Annie spoke again, breaking the silence as she turned to Gabriel.

"Did Professor Jaimee _really _use a magical combat to pick out your dad amongst all her suitors, Riel?" Annie's voice was laced with amusement as she looked at him. Rolling his eyes, Gabriel chuckled at this, his gaze unconsciously flicking over to where his mother was sitting at the head table.

"It was hardly that big of an issue, Annie. My mother _had _to eliminate all her potential suitors somehow and besides, my parents were bitter rivals during their hunting season." He explained. Daniel looked mildly amused at their conversation but Annie appeared to be genuinely interested.

"But even then, your parents got married because they _love _each other right? I mean…They care about each other?" She asked but this time, Riel gave her a strange look and arched an eyebrow.

"It was…A marriage of convenience and mutual benefit, on their part… My mother, of course, being a direct descendant from the Peverell and Gryffindor families while my father, the heir to the Malfoy family, is of sanguine relation to Merlin. They were perfect for each other, and they complimented each other very well. Their attraction to each other was, to be honest, inevitable."

"Mutual benefit? Marriage of convenience? Malfoy, your parents married each other because they _love _each other and I doubt that bloodlines or family history had anything to do with it." Annie snapped at him, her voice beginning to sound a little defensive but unfortunately, Gabriel didn't notice.

"I'm not saying my parents don't love each other, Annie." He smiled helplessly at her and ran a hand through his tousled blonde hair. "I'm just saying that maybe other factors were also taken into consideration." He corrected himself carefully, but Annie just rolled her eyes and scoffed at him.

"You think they fell in love because their backgrounds were compatible" She concluded stiffly.

Gabriel mulled over her words for a few seconds, before he shrugged. "Maybe not directly." He agreed but then, he added, "but I'm certain that circumstances would have been _very _different had my mother been, let's say, a muggleborn." He saw the way Annie's eyes flashed at this so he stammered and hastily corrected himself. "N-not that I'm prejudiced against muggleborns or anything, I mean…My Aunt Hermione is a muggleborn and my _grandmother _Lily Potter was muggleborn…They're both _brilliant. _I just meant—" He scratched his head when he saw Daniel's warning look at him over Annie's shoulder. "—that, my father, as a Malfoy, had a responsibility to preserve the purity of our magical bloodline and had my mother been muggleborn, the chances of them marrying were slim—"

"You half-assed pureblood _prick._" Annie suddenly hissed, catching Gabriel completely off guard. Looking up from his half-eaten plate of sausages, Daniel had also looked up at this and he glanced back and forth between his best friends in confusion, his eyes suddenly widening in apprehension.

"…guys…? Is everything okay?" He asked them both cautiously but they ignored him.

Gabriel was gaping at Annie in silence, his eyes as wide as saucers, and his expression frozen in a look of indignation. "…excuse me?" He blinked, not daring to believe what she had just said.

Her eyes narrowing further, Annie just glared at him and shook her head at him in disgust.

"I can't _believe _you're prejudiced against muggleborns!" Annie slammed her goblet of pumpkin juice down onto the table in front of them, causing both Gabriel and Daniel to flinch at the sound. "Especially since I just beat your pureblood arse in a magical combat a few days ago!" She added.

"Annie—" Daniel tried to reach over to calm her down but apparently, Annie wasn't finished.

"All this time, you try and pretend to be this really nice guy around everyone else but in the end, you are _just _as horrible and as prejudiced as the rest of those pureblood jerks out there!" Annie snapped at him again, and at this, Gabriel felt a stab of insult and he sat up, seething with anger.

"I never said I was prejudiced against muggleborns, Annie! I just _said _that they're brilliant! I just meant that it's hard for purebloods to—" Gabriel paused as he tried to find the right words to say.

"—breed with common muggleborn riffraff like me, is that it?" She challenged him with a glint in her eye and at that, Riel reddened even further and he managed a half-glare, half-cringe at her.

"Th—that is, I didn't mean it that way! Stop putting words in my mouth, Annie!"

"I will once you stop _lying!_"

"I'm _not—"_

"_Ahem._"

Gabriel and Annie both looked up from what would have been the beginning of a very nasty disagreement and stared dazedly at Daniel, who at that moment, had been watching the entire argument unfold with a dismayed expression on his face. Looking up at their similarly shocked glares, he shook his head at them both and sighed, turning back to dig into his breakfast with a scoff.

"It's _way _too early in the morning for you two to start this argument." Looking up, Daniel smirked at them, instantly noticing the way Annie and Gabriel were shooting each other glares. He gave them another half-hearted sigh and rolled his eyes, indicating for them both to sit back down.

"Go on then, let's all just have breakfast without any arguments this morning, alright?" He watched as Gabriel and Annie both sat down slowly, both Gryffindors awkwardly avoiding each other's eyes. Keeping her head down, Annie had just sighed and began picking at her breakfast in silence.

Within a few minutes, she looked up at her two best friends again and managed a forced smile. "Daniel's right, Riel…I'm sorry. I was out of line back there." She managed to say and when she looked at them again with a tight smile, Gabriel sighed and nodded slowly, waving the matter away.

"Forget it…It's my fault too, I guess. I'm a little tense for hunting season next week." Gabriel blew several strands of blonde hair that were falling into his eyes and gave them a helpless smirk. "Father's coming over next week to introduce me to a potential match-up…I—" Gabriel paused in the middle of his sentence, his green eyes dimming slowly. "…haven't really decided if I want to push through with it…Considering I've only met the girl twice before." He added with a soft, heavy sigh.

Annie watched him silently while Daniel just shook his head, clapping him lightly on the shoulder. "What's her name? Do I know her?" He asked curiously, munching on a spoonful of cereal.

Gabriel shrugged, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. "Vivienne Evangeline Delacour…?" He fused his eyebrows together in thought. "I think she's the Head Girl from Beauxbatons…" He told him, causing Daniel's eyes to widen instantly when he recognized the name.

"Whoa…Blimey, _Vivienne Delacour? _You're getting engaged to _Vivienne Delacour?" _His eyes bugged and even Gabriel couldn't help laughing at the stunned expression on his face as he spoke.

Beside them, Annie frowned and she looked back and forth between the two boys.

"What's so special about her—"

Daniel rounded on her instantly and gave her a miffed, pointed glare. "She's only like, rumored to be the _hottest, _most _beautiful_ debutante this season! She's _completely _in a league of her own!" He exclaimed, causing Gabriel to roll his eyes again and Annie's frown to deepen further.

"I saw her before; I didn't think she was _that _pretty—"

"She's _gorgeous._" Daniel corrected Annie firmly, earning himself another grin from Gabriel. "She's the prime debutante_, _I saw her once and she didn't even look _real!_" He declared, causing Annie to make a tutting noise in irritation. Rolling her eyes, she scowled darkly at her bowl of cereal.

"Then _you_ date her, Dan."

Gabriel laughed at the sullen tone of her voice while Daniel just grinned, shaking his head. "Ahh… But I'm way out of _her _league." He winked at his two best friends. "If only I _could…_But unfortunately, women like _that…_Have specific standards." He looked pointedly at Gabriel, who sighed and shook his head, leaning back against the backrest of his seat.

"She's beautiful, alright…But…I don't know…Really…" Gabriel frowned and looked up at them, the expression on his face one of grim resignation. "I guess…I just don't like doing something not of my own decision…Does that make any sense?" He looked directly at Annie this time, meeting her eyes.

She stared silently back at him, gauging the emotions on his face. After a long moment, she managed a weak smile, her eyes softening as she spoke. "You just want your own life, Riel." She reached out across the table and placed her hand over his, squeezing his fingers gently in comfort.

"…there's nothing wrong with wanting your own life."

Gabriel's gaze dropped down slowly, his eyes resting thoughtfully on their intertwined fingers.

"…there's nothing wrong with making a few mistakes." Annie's eyes were dim as she smiled gently at him, noting the question that was clouding in his eyes. Then, ignoring Daniel's glances back and forth between them, she withdrew her hand from Gabriel's and stood up, gathering her things.

Almost instantly, Gabriel's eyebrows shot up in confusion and he almost stood up after her.

"Annie—"

"I'd better go, I have some things to do." Annie smiled sadly at him again as slung her bag over her shoulder and gave both Gryffindor boys a quick nod. "I'll see you guys at lunch alright?" She asked them and once Gabriel and Daniel both nodded blankly at her, she turned and sauntered off.

Frozen in place, Gabriel watched the other Gryffindor walking away in silence, ignoring the way Daniel had sighed beside him and was rolling his eyes. Finally, as he glanced back up and saw that Daniel was beginning to gather his things as well, Gabriel blinked, shaking his musings away.

"Dan?" Gabriel looked confused but Daniel just gave him a wry grin and pointed to his watch.

"Hogsmeade weekend, remember? I'm going to go change. Besides, don't you have a date with Goldstein later?" He asked the other boy curiously just as he grabbed an apple from the table and took a bite right into the fruit. Blinking in realization, Gabriel smacked his palm across his forehead.

"Argh…Right, I _do…_I almost forgot." He winced and glanced down at his watch, noting that it was barely 8AM and that he was supposed to be meeting Hailene and Abigail down in the dungeons. "I'll probably meet you guys in Hogsmeade later then, can you tell Marissa for me? I just have to meet Hale and Abigail for their History project." He explained, earning a mildly irritated look from Daniel.

"Do I _have _to? You know Marissa isn't nice to any other guy except for _you_, Riel." He pointed out but Gabriel just laughed and gave him a friendly clap to the shoulder as he stood up from his seat.

"I'm sure you'll manage, Dan…See you later!" Gabriel didn't wait for the other boy to answer him before he stood up, grabbed his things and began heading for the corridors leading to the Slytherin dungeons. He passed by a couple of seventh-year Slytherins just as he was exiting the Great Hall and among them was his twin brother Garrett, who frowned and stopped him briefly by the arm.

"Riel—"

Gabriel froze at the sound of his brother's voice and turned around, meeting Garrett's similar pair of emerald green eyes. Wrapped around Garrett's neck, _Sylens _had also looked up and was now staring at the two identical Malfoy sons in lazy interest, the snake's tongue flicking out from its mouth.

_"Good morning, Master Riel…" _Sylens hissed softly and Gabriel managed a quick smile at him, nodding back at the snake in return. _"Morning, Sylens…" _He greeted in parseltongue before turning back to his brother and arching an eyebrow expectantly at him. "What's bothering you _now, _Gar?"

Frowning, Garrett shook his head and skimmed his eyes briefly around the Great Hall.

"Have you seen Hailene, by any chance?" He asked but before Gabriel could open his mouth to answer him, Garrett continued, his voice settling into an annoyed drawl. "That annoying brat. Mom told me to keep an eye out for her while she's away but I haven't seen her since yesterday morning." He grumbled, rolling his eyes when Sylens seemed to smirk at him and looked up at Gabriel again.

"_…perhaps…you could help us look for her, Master Riel…?" _The snake asked him softly and at that, Gabriel sighed and rolled his eyes, managing to give his brother an amused smirk. "I spoke to James just last night, he said Hale was studying in her room. In any case, why don't you come with me, then? I'm about to meet her and Abigail right now for their History project." He answered.

Garrett snorted and raised a single eyebrow in amusement. "_History _project? That's complete rubbish, I wonder what they're supposed to be doing this time." He drawled but Gabriel took that as a 'yes' anyway since Garrett had then proceeded to follow him down his descent to the dungeons.

"They're supposed to be writing this whole essay on their parents…or something…I don't know, really." Gabriel led them both through a maze of corridors, passing by several more Slytherin students who were on their way to the Great Hall. "I'm supposed to be taking them to the past right now for two hours so they can find some material to write about. Bloody wicked project, huh?" He grinned at his older brother in amusement, causing Garrett to smirk again and arch an eyebrow in interest.

"…hmm…the past, huh…?" His eyes lit up in thought as he followed Gabriel around a corner. "So…If you're taking those two brats to the past—" Garrett looked up and grinned sheepishly at Gabriel's warning glare. "—do you think you could let me tag along?" His grin turned into a wry smirk.

"I hardly think that's a good idea, Gar—"

"Ah come on, yank your wand out of your arse." Garrett grabbed his arm and dragged him along faster down the corridor until they had finally reached an empty classroom at the end of the hallway. As soon as they got there, they were immediately met with the sight of Hailene and Abigail caught right in the middle of a fierce argument. The two girls were seated in chairs on opposite sides of the room and were hurling insults back and forth that they didn't even notice the two boys there.

_"…such a spoiled brat! You're not a queen! The world doesn't revolve around you, Hailene!"_

_ "Oh yeah…? Well at least I know who my parents are! Can you say the same about yourself?"_

Both Garrett and Gabriel cringed as they entered the room and heard Hailene's last comment. Shaking their heads, they paused just by the entrance and watched the scene before them in shock.

_"How dare you, Hale? I can't believe you'd stoop so low!"_

_ "Well, it's the truth isn't it?"_

From the front of the room near the teacher's table, Abigail had risen up from her seat at Hailene's last comment and surged forward, obviously intending to rip a smirking Hailene into shreds.

"That was _so _below the belt, I can't believe you would even say that!" Abigail screeched as she lunged forward, missing Hailene by a couple of inches when the other girl had shrieked and moved away. "I am a _Malfoy, _just like you! My parents are Byron Malfoy and Vincent Ashford regardless—"

"No they're _not!_" Hailene's smirk widened in triumph and she took a step back from Abigail, crossing her arms over her chest. "Judging from how _you _turned out, your parents were probably muggleborns! Or _worse…_muggles!" She laughed as Abigail's cheeks colored dark red in growing anger.

"_How dare you—" _Gritting her teeth, she was just about to tackle the other girl violently to the floor when she felt a hand grabbing her from behind, yanking her backwards a few steps away from Hailene. Growling loudly, she looked up and found herself looking at Gabriel's sheepish expression.

"Whoa…Hold on there, Abi…Not so fast." He held her securely in place by the collar of her shirt and stood back, watching as Garrett wrestled with a furiously struggling Hailene for a few seconds.

"Let me go, damn you! I'm going to shred that little orphan girl apart!" She snapped at him, scratching as his arms but Garrett just growled back at her and in his annoyance, he raised his wand.

"Petrificus totalus." He muttered under his breath, smirking to himself when Hailene's struggles ceased immediately and she froze in place, glaring up at her older brother with a snarl.

"Now…" Gabriel lips twitched and he arched an eyebrow at Abigail first, then Hailene. "…Will you _both _calm down and act like mature young _ladies _so we can go ahead and proceed with your project?" He sighed and shook his head as Garrett released Hailene, keeping the blonde in place by her arm.

She snapped back at him and snatched her arm back, shoving the eldest Malfoy son away. "Oh _bugger _off, Garrett!" She turned around and crossed her arms, glaring darkly at him. "What are you even _doing _here anyway, you're not supposed to be here! Shouldn't you be hanging out with that slut of a girlfriend of yours?" She taunted but Garrett just snorted at her and gave her a pointed sneer.

"Oh and look at the pot calling the kettle black." He replied sarcastically.

Hailene gasped sharply, her gray eyes flashing in indignation.

"Did you just call me a _slut?_"

"Well, if the shoe fits." Abigail cut in snidely with a sneer of her own and again, Hailene gasped loudly, her eyes wide and her face flushing in anger. Without warning, she almost lunged at Abigail again had Garrett not sighed and grabbed her once more by her arm, holding her back firmly.

"_STOP IT, ALL OF YOU!" _

Gabriel's temples were aching and he groaned as he rubbed them lightly. He closed his eyes in exhaustion as he tried to sort out the shouts coming from all three other Malfoys in the room. When after a few more minutes, the arguments and the insults didn't seem to be stopping – now including Garrett's occasional one-liners – the Head Boy finally raised his wand and pointed it directly at the trio.

"_SILENCIO!"_

At once, silence dawned in the small classroom immediately, and the only actions coming from Hailene, Garrett and Abigail were the silent glares and sneers they were aiming at one another. Gabriel waited for a few minutes of silence at first before he spoke again, his voice a calm, slow drawl.

"I will release you all in awhile…But only if you listen to what I have to say first….Can you all do that?" He looked down and noticed that Sylens had slithered down from Garrett's neck and had now coiled himself around Gabriel's arm instead, watching the scene with amusement in his eyes. Ignoring this, Gabriel met the other Malfoys' glares at him again and winced as he began to speak.

"If you all don't mind…I have _several _other matters to attend to this afternoon…And I'd like to get this project done as quick and painless as possible. Now, Hailene…Abigail…" He looked up at the two girls in question and smiled calmly at them, noticing their answering glares. "I understand you both have a history of bad blood between the two of you and trust me, I'm not taking any sides. But can either of you _please _put that all aside for_ two hours _just to get through this? Please?" His voice took one an imploring tone as he glanced at both of them, noting the embarrassed looks on their face.

"Please?" Gabriel repeated himself with a sheepish smile, and with that he turned to Garrett next and rewarded his smirking twin brother with a glare. "Garrett, did you _have _to add to this mess? You're not even supposed to be here in the first place." He drawled, earning another grin from his brother. When Garrett just shrugged at him, he sighed in defeat and finally released the other three.

To his relief, neither Hailene nor Abigail spoke but Garrett was still smirking as he relinquished his hold on Hailene and sauntered lazily over to the front of the room. "Women…I'll never understand them." He plopped down on one of the empty seats in front and crossed one ankle over the other. "So…Why don't we get started then, Mister Head Boy? Let's go use this time turner of yours, I haven't got all day you know." He held back a laugh when he noticed his twin brother gritting his teeth.

"You—" Gabriel held back his own barrage of insults and sighed as he indicated for Hailene and Abigail to walk up to him just as he lifted his time turner from his necklace. "—_fine…_Come on guys, let's get this over with then." He waited until Garrett walked up to them as well before he spoke again. "Alright, so…I suppose I'll take Hailene to Mom and Dad's seventh year for an hour…Then I'm taking Abigail to Uncle Byron and Uncle Vincent's past for another hour. That way, we can—_HEY! GAR!_" Gabriel's eyes flashed when Garrett had grabbed the time turner from him and held it up into the light.

"Hmm…Interesting, I've seen Aunt Hermione fiddling with one of these things before. How does this work—" He twisted a few knobs here and there until Gabriel's cheeks flushed in panic.

"Garrett!" The younger Malfoy son made to grab the time turner away from Garrett in horror but before he could, Abigail had reached forward and plucked the device right from Garrett's hands. Again, Gabriel's cheeks flushed at this but Abigail ignored him as she inspected the time turner.

"Gabriel…" Abigail spoke softly after a few minutes of staring intently at the time turner, her eyes filled with a strange, unreadable expression. "While we're doing this…Actually…There's… Something I'd like to ask you… A favor…If it's okay…" She bit her lip and looked up again just as Hailene snorted behind her. The blonde crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes in disdain.

"We don't have time for this, Abigail—"

"My parents…" Abigail paused at the identical looks of shock on Garrett and Gabriel's faces and looked imploringly at them again, holding the time turner up in her hand. "I…I want to know who my parents are…My _real _parents…" She heard Hailene muttering something under her breath behind her. "And…If it's okay…I'd like to use this to find them…I _know _I can…Please help me." She finished but at once, Gabriel snapped out of his dazed stupor and he snatched the time turner from her hands.

"_No! _Abigail, are you bloody mental? We can't just go back in time to find out who your real parents are, we'll be breaking a _dozen _school rules! Not to mention, it's completely against Ministry policy to snoop around that much in the past, we could mess up the time continuum!" He exclaimed in shocked horror but Abigail glared stubbornly at him and wrestled the time turner from his grip again.

"We're not going to go _'snooping', _Gabriel! You're already taking me and Hailene into the past anyway! All I'm asking is that you let us stay a bit longer!" She saw that Gabriel was going to open his mouth to protest again but she didn't give him a chance to say anything. "And I _promise _we won't mess up any of the events, I really _do _just want to know who my parents are!" She protested.

"Oh _please._" Behind them, Hailene had rolled her eyes and leaned back casually against one of the empty chairs behind her. "Did you honestly take all I was saying back there seriously? Get a _grip, _Abigail…Don't tell me you're actually going to go all sentimental now and try to look for your parents because of me. That's just…_pathetic._" Hailene drawled, ignoring the glare Gabriel was giving her.

Frowning, Garrett reached over from beside Hailene and poked her sharply in her ribs.

"Shut up, Princess Brat—"

"_You _shut up!" Hailene snapped back at him. Ignoring the way he was trying to hold her back, she walked over to Abigail again until they were face to face. Abigail stiffened at this and tried to move away but then Hailene spoke, and if anything, her words completely caught Abigail off guard.

"You know what, you should even consider yourself _lucky _that you don't know who your parents are, Abigail." She scowled to herself and shook her head, glaring at the time turner in disgust. "I mean, look at me…I _know _my parents are Draco Malfoy and the _'great' _Harry Potter…The wizarding savior of all time…But do you see me jumping for joy at that revelation? I don't think so." She scoffed and turned around again, walking away. "Frankly, you're better off not knowing your real parents—"

"That's _not _true!" Abigail glared fiercely at her, cutting right through Hailene's words as she grabbed the other girl by her arm and whirled her back around. Shocked at this, Hailene's eyes widened and she glanced back at her cousin with confused gray eyes. "Abigail, what are you—"

"All my _life, _I have had people like _you _mocking me for who I am because I don't know my real parents!" She began, her eyes growing misty with tears. "And from the day I was born, I have had to contend with the question of why _my _real parents never wanted me…Or why they gave me away to that orphanage!" Abigail's voice broke softly, causing Garrett and Gabriel to exchange a look.

The latter of the two moved forward, attempting to comfort Abigail but she shook her head and moved away from him.

"No!" She shoved Gabriel's hands away and held the time turner up higher above her head. "Hailene's right, it's embarrassing and shameful for me that I _don't _know who my parents are…Even Dad and Father have refused to tell me. But after fifteen years, I think I bloody well deserve to know _now!_" Abigail raged, taking a step away from Gabriel again when he tried to reach for the time turner.

The Head Boy covered his face with his hands, looking both panicked and exasperated.

"Abigail, _please…_Just give me the time turner and I promise, _maybe _we can extend your peek in the past for about fifteen minutes but that's it. I _can't _let you risk getting yourself mixed up with time like that—" He winced when Hailene had lunged at Abigail, wrestling with her for the time turner.

"Abi, give me the time turner now! You're being ridiculous!" Hailene growled as she reached for the time turner above Abigail's head, causing Abigail to growl back and shove at her in annoyance.

"No, let go of me, Hailene! I said let go!" She retorted and tried to wrestle with the older Malfoy again but Hailene was much taller than she was. They ended up screeching and yanking at opposite ends of the time turner instead, causing Gabriel to cringe and rush to them in growing panic.

"Don't break it! Seriously, I could get into a lot of trouble with the Headmaster—_LOOK OUT!_" Gabriel cursed out loud when the time turner seemed to have slipped from Hailene and Abigail's tug-of-war match and ended up flying in the air, crashing onto the floor a few steps in front of Garrett.

The device broke immediately, splitting into separated pieces and shards on the floor of the dungeon classroom and the shattering sound had caught Hailene and Abigail's attention. At once, both girls froze in the middle of their screaming match and looked up at the sound, their faces growing pale in realization when they came upon the sight of the broken time turner in pieces on the dungeon floor.

"O—oh Merlin…" Relinquishing herself free from Hailene's grip, Abigail turned wide eyes from the time turner to Gabriel's pale, stunned expression and managed a very feeble look of apology. "M—Merlin, Gabriel…I am so…_so…_Sorry… I didn't mean to break it, I just wanted to find out who my parents were, I didn't mean to—" She broke herself off and watched helplessly as a smirking Garrett walked slowly over to the time turner and crouched down, poking at it several times with his wand.

Then, when the older Malfoy son had determined that the time turner was, indeed, broken, he looked back up and directed his calm, amused smirk at his distraught twin brother – who was now looking more and more like he had swallowed a flobberworm. Garrett just gave him a careless shrug.

"The blasted thing's broken beyond even 'reparo', Riel…Oh well." He missed the look of absolute horror on Gabriel's face and chuckled, pocketing his wand back into his robes. "So I guess…That's that. Who's up for breakfast? I'm starving." He glanced at the two girls again but to his surprise, both Abigail and Hailene were staring at Gabriel's horrified expression in apprehension.

"…Riel…?" Hailene asked her older brother uncertainly, scuffling her feet.

Blinking rapidly, Gabriel ignored her question and turned his pale, ghost-like face towards Garrett again. Gulping, his green eyes flicked back over to the broken time turner on the floor.

"Garrett…?"

At the strange sound of his voice, Garrett looked up and met his eyes in question. Still staring at the time turner, Gabriel forced himself to voice the question he had been afraid to ask since it had first formed in his head. Gulping again, he ran a shaky hand through his tousled platinum blonde hair.

"…can you check your watch for me…?"

Frowning, Garrett's eyebrows fused together but he glanced down at his watch anyway.

"…Okay…?"

Gabriel stared very stiffly and very silently at him. "…is it working…?"

Garrett looked surprised at his question but nevertheless, he looked at his watch and then exclaimed out loud. "Bloody hell! It stopped moving! And settings are all screwed up, I'm five hours advance!" He muttered as he began fiddling with his watch, unaware of Gabriel's stunned expression.

From where Sylens had curled up comfortably around Gabriel's right arm, the snake crawled up even further until he was wrapped around Gabriel's neck and he hissed in a very grim, soft voice.

"_Master Riel…I think…We're stuck in the…"_

Hearing Sylens' comment trailing off, Gabriel shook his head sharply and interrupted him.

_ "D—don't even say it, Sylens."_

Catching the breaking of Gabriel's voice, Garrett looked up at his younger brother in question.

"Huh? What was that, Riel…?" Garrett lifted his gaze from his broken watch and glanced at him again but to his surprise, Gabriel was already rushing towards the door at the very end of the room.

"Riel, what's wrong with you?" Hailene's voice sounded annoyed as she, Garrett and Abigail tried to follow after the Head Boy. As he reached the exit, however, Riel yanked the door open in panic but then froze mid-action. His jaw dropped stupidly as he gaped at the person in front of him.

"Ouch! Riel—"

Caught off guard by the Head Boy's abrupt stop, Abigail, Hailene and Garrett all crashed into Gabriel from behind and stumbled backwards a few steps to regain their balance. As soon as they stood back up, Hailene was the first to look up over Gabriel's shoulder at what the blonde was currently gaping stupidly at – followed closely by Abigail, until eventually, Garrett was gaping as well.

"Er—" A pair of stern, coffee-brown eyes were glaring pointedly at them from the other end of the entrance door, followed by its owner's familiar, tutting expression of disapproval. "—is there a _reason _you four are currently in this forbidden section of the castle…Way past your curfews?" The girl in front of them was frowning slightly, and there was something oddly familiar about her pretty face.

Behind Gabriel, Garrett, Hailene and Abigail had all fallen into a stunned silence and continued to stare at the girl in horror. Still gaping stupidly, Gabriel's wide green eyes dropped down slowly to the shiny, _HEAD GIRL _badge pinned onto the Gryffindor robes of the frowning girl in front of them.

And unable to do anything else, Gabriel finally gulped and managed a shaky, sheepish smile.

"H—Hi…_Aunt Hermione…"_

* * *

**A/N: **BAM! BWAHAHAHA! Now how's _that _for a bloody evil cliffie? Perhaps, my most evil one yet! :D Sooo…Who's excited? Anybody have an idea as to where…or _when…_the kids may be? BWAHAHA! :D

**Next Chapter: **A little H/D fluff (as requested by some of you), and we find out exactly where the kids are…Any guesses? The winner gets a big Garrett plushie! :D

Sooo…Want more? Well…**PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! TILL NEXT TIME! :D**


	5. Babysitting

**Title: The Perfect Mother**

**Author: **slytherin-nette

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters you recognize from the HP books in this story. All I own is the plot. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling. She rocks.

**Pairings: **DM/femHP, GrM/?, Gb/?, HM/?, Many others. :D

**Warnings: **This is a **NEXT GENERATION **story based on the characters and universe of TPG/TPW so hopefully, you've all read those two stories first before attempting to read this one. Also, be warned of slow updates on this story as I will be focusing most of my attention on my other two stories.

**A/N**: LOOK, IT'S ANOTHER UPDATE! IT'S A MIRACLE! :D Just a quick note to everyone, btw. To avoid any confusion, from now on, I will be labeling each transition from past to present, since we will be dealing with TWO different time frames from now on. :D So without further ado, enjoy the chapter! :D

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Babysitting **

****PRESENT****

"So…"

Harry raised an eyebrow at the strange tone of Draco's voice. Whirling around, she suddenly found herself pressed up against him, his arms snaking down to lock firmly around her waist. With that, she chuckled as she allowed her husband to pull her closer until their bodies were perfectly aligned. Smiling, she tilted her head up slightly so she could stare up at his scowling, handsome face.

"So…?"

His scowl deepened at her teasing smile at him but just as she expected, Draco's only answer was to tighten his arms around her waist, keeping her firmly in place. "Stop trying to act as though you don't know, Potter." He grumbled childishly at her, burying his face stubbornly into her neck.

Laughing, Harry pretended to think for a few seconds but then, her husband's arms only seemed to crush her even harder against him. Finally, she relented and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"I'll miss you too, Draco."

She felt him scoffing against her neck but ironically, his grip on her softened into an embrace.

"Don't flatter yourself, Potter." He grumbled back and Harry could practically see the angry, pouting expression her husband was trying to hide against her neck so she smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Alright…I'll miss you _terribly; _Draco." She turned her head slightly to the side so she could caress his cheek with her lips, rewarding him with a sweet, loving kiss. "And you know I'm just _yours._" She whispered into his ear, knowing exactly that those were the words her husband wanted to hear.

Sure enough, as she expected, Draco's vice-like grip around her waist loosened and he finally lifted his head and met her eyes, his expression softening into a smile. His features were older now – more mature – and she could already see the faint beginnings of lines by the corners of his eyes. Still, his gaze was as intense and striking as Harry remembered it was more than ten years ago and as always, the sight of those gray orbs staring at her like that made her heart race like a teenage girl.

"Always…?"

Blushing heatedly at his teasing question, Harry blinked herself out of her thoughts and looked at him again, one of her eyebrows arching up in amusement when she saw the smug smirk on his face. Chuckling, Draco had reached up and tenderly cupped her cheek, caressing the soft, smooth skin.

Rolling her eyes, Harry suppressed a shiver at the feel of his warm fingers teasing gently along her skin and she smiled, leaning upwards so she could whisper something right into his ear.

"Always."

Her green eyes softened at the way Draco smiled at her again and he finally stepped back and raised his wand, relinquishing the levitation spell he had put on her semi-packed trunk. Once her things were safely back on the carpeted floor of their Godric's Hollow bedroom, Harry chuckled and resumed her packing, watching as Draco feigned a sigh and sat down on the edge of their bed.

"Do you really _have _to go on this trip?" Draco's scowl darkened and he sat up and watched as Harry had cast a shrinking charm on her trunks, placing them all into a small, portable pouch bag.

"Draco, we already talked about this." She looked up and smiled at him, walking over to where he sat and rewarding her frowning husband a sweet, reassuring kiss. "I'll be back in two weeks, I won't be gone long. Surely, you can keep yourself busy until then." She teased, giving him a smirk.

Scoffing, Draco gave her a pointed glare in return. "Not at night, I won't." He grumbled back, causing the corner of Harry's lips to twitch as she rolled her eyes at him and gave him a cheeky grin.

"You know, _most _husbands would actually be glad to have a 2-week break from their annoying wives." She teased him but Draco just gave her a wry smile and shook his head in response.

"True…But their wives probably don't jump them in the middle of the night for hot, wild sex."

Harry just gave him a flippant smile.

"You know you like it anyway."

"Did you hear me complaining, Potter?"

Laughing, Harry rolled her eyes at him again but just as she was about to walk back towards their open walk-in closet, Draco spoke again, leafing through the DADA textbooks Harry had left sprawled by the edge of their bed. "I heard Hailene topped her exams last semester." He mentioned.

Harry was rifling through several more clothes in their closet but she paused and her voice rang into the bedroom as she answered him. "Yes, she did… She's also a candidate for Head Girl. Though—" Harry frowned to herself. "—she has two years left, that could still change." She reminded Draco but all she got in return was a derisive scoff from her husband as he tossed the books aside.

"Rubbish!" Draco stood up and walked into the closet as well, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist again. "Of _course _Hailene is going to make Head Girl, how could they not choose her otherwise? She's just as smart as Gabriel." Draco smirked at the thought but then, his thoughts immediately riveted to Garrett and the smirk disappeared into a frown. "Though… I have half a mind to ship Garrett off to one of those disciplinary boarding schools if he remains stubborn—"

"Draco." Harry's voice sounded serious as she turned around to face him again, her eyes narrowing dangerously in warning. "You will _not _send any of _my_ children to those horrible institutions—" She gritted her teeth and her eyes flashed. "—or so help me, I will—" She stopped when she noticed the soft teasing look in Draco's expression, followed his small, amused smile at her.

"I know." He whispered quietly into her ear and with that, his arms loosened around her waist and he reached up, tilting her chin upwards so that she was looking into his eyes. Harry's shoulders visibly relaxed when she saw that her husband hadn't been serious, and that he was smiling at her.

Draco trailed his hand upwards until he was cupping her cheek, his gray eyes going unusually soft as he spoke. "I just _love _seeing how much you protect our children so much…Even to go as far as to protect them from _me._" Draco's lips tugged upwards into a grin. "Your fierce courage…is actually one of the things I've always loved most about you, you know." He told her, causing her to blush.

"You…prick." Harry grumbled and she buried her face into his chest to hide her smile. "If you think your cheesy one-liners actually work against me, Malfoy, you've got another thing coming." She quipped but Draco just laughed at her words and answered her by giving her a kiss on her cheek.

"I know. It's my bloody good looks that have got you hooked." He smirked at winked at her, earning a half-hearted punch on the arm from his wife. Laughing, his arms unhooked around her waist again and instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned casually against the wall behind him.

Harry, on the other hand, was rolling her eyes as she resumed her rifling through her closet, grumbling irritably under her breath. The Gryffindor was smiling, however, and Draco contented himself with watching her continue packing, admiring the curves of her slender body in idle thought.

"Malfoy…?"

Draco's lips twitched again at the exasperation he heard in her voice.

"Potter…?"

Without bothering to look at him, she tossed another robe into an open suitcase.

"Stop staring at my arse."

Draco's smirk eased into a grin and he straightened from the wall again, shaking his head.

"You prude." He drawled.

"You prick." She retorted.

Draco walked back out of the closet and sat down on the edge of their bed again.

"I don't want you to go." He admitted glumly, unable to prevent a scowl.

He heard Harry sighing inside their walk-in closet and the former Gryffindor answered him in a soft voice. "Draco, come on..." She walked back out of the closet and walked over to where Draco was seated on the bed. "This is an important excavation for me…And for my ancestry… I _have _to go there myself to see what I might find…I promise. I'll be back soon enough." She couldn't help laughing as Draco leaned back against the bed and pulled her down against him so that she was straddling his lap.

"I know…" His hands traveled from her hips until he was cupping her rounded bottom. Sighing, he pulled her body down closer against him so that their bodies were pressing against each other. "I just don't understand what it is you, Dumbledore or Snape are hoping to get from this excavation—"

"A sense of identity, maybe? To uncover my family's history? I don't know, Draco…But I've got to try—_mmm—_" She stifled a moan as Draco pressed them even closer and the Slytherin had bent down, tracing his lips and nibbling along her collarbone. "—b—besides, I'll be back before you know i—it—" She cut herself off with a soft gasp as Draco's lips traveled lower, kissing along her cleavage.

"Mmmhmm…" Draco drawled teasingly as he nibbled along the top of her breasts again, smirking when he felt her hold back a whine and unconsciously grind her hips against his. "So…Since you'll be gone for two weeks…What do you say we make sure that tonight's last two hours count…?" With that, Draco's voice turned lowered into an impatient hiss and he suddenly yanked her hips tighter against his so that she could feel his arousal pressing painfully between her legs. Again, Jaimee gasped at this but the sound was immediately drowned out when Draco caught her lips in a deep kiss.

She struggled against him for a few minutes, pulling away slightly and managing to gasp out. "You'll be able to watch over the kids… while I'm gone…right?" Harry bit her lip and held back another moan and Draco resumed his nibbling along her neck, sending shivers down her spine. She heard him scoffing against her skin but nevertheless, he answered her after a few minutes. "Babysitting, huh?"

"Babysitting." She whispered softly when he bit at a particularly sensitive spot below her neck.

Closing her eyes, Harry cupped his cheeks and pulled him up, smashing their lips together in another deep, searing kiss. Draco smirked but melted against her, returning her kiss with equal fervor.

When the two had broken away for air, Draco suddenly twisted them around, pinning her down onto the bed with his larger frame. Then, when Harry just blinked and laughed softly at him, Draco smirked mischievously at her and he leaned down to whisper something heatedly into her ear.

"Round 1."

* * *

****PAST****

17-year-old Hermione Granger had never encountered such a stranger looking bunch of teenagers before.

There she was, perfectly minding her own business and conducting her usual rounds along the Potions corridors like she did every Thursday night when, out of nowhere, she heard a popping sound from one of the nearby empty classrooms. Initially, Hermione had assumed it was just a student practicing spells after curfew but she had thought wrong.

As soon as she had come rushing towards the classroom and yanked the entrance doors right open, she found herself staring into an eerily familiar pair of emerald green eyes – followed by its owner's pale face as he had gaped at her and stumbled backwards away from her in fear.

"H—Hi…_Aunt Hermione…"_

Hermione stared at him, her eyes going wide at the sight of the blonde, green-eyed student – who for some reason looked too _scarily _familiar for her liking – gaping at her from the door's other side. The boy was tall – perhaps her age – with platinum blonde hair and a distinctly aristocratic face that obviously indicated he was from a wealthy family. He was undoubtedly very handsome, even Hermione had not failed to notice. His hair, however, was haphazardly sticking out all over the place that she desperately wanted to help him comb it all back down.

After staring – and pretty much gaping at him for a good couple of minutes – the full implications of what the boy had said hit her, and she glared at the blonde boy in confusion.

"Excuse me? _What _did you just call me?"

"…"

The boy simply stared back dumbly at her, his mouth opening and closing in silence.

When the silence had become almost unbearable, another blonde boy beside the messy-haired blonde suddenly nudged him sharply and hissed at him loud enough for Hermione to hear.

"Riel! _Say _something, don't just stand there gawking at her!" He snapped.

"Well, what do you _want _me to say, Garrett?" The first boy hissed back.

"I don't know! Anything, she might be able to help us get back—"

_"Who are you two? What are you doing here?"_

At the sound of Hermione's sharp, stern voice suddenly breaking through their conversation, both hissing boys suddenly looked up again and shot Hermione a pair of identical, embarrassed grins.

Hermione gaped at them again, however, for that was the first time she realized that the two blonde boys in front of her were actually twins – _identical _twins, to be exact – and that the boy who had been called 'Garrett' was now smiling sheepishly back at her and shaking his head.

Unlike his twin brother, Hermione noticed that Garrett had sleeker styled hair, gelled back and away from his face. He was wearing robes of green and silver – Slytherin robes – while the boy he had addressed as 'Riel', on the other hand, was wearing Gryffindor robes.

Both blonde boys were staring awkwardly at Hermione, trying to think of what to say.

"I…uh….er…" Riel was biting his lip and unconsciously, he swatted lightly at something that was slithering up his arm. At this, Hermione's eyes dropped down and immediately, she winced and stepped back – her eyes growing wide at the sight of the poisonous looking black snake that was wrapped gingerly around Riel's upper left arm.

"Is that a…_snake _wrapped around your arm_—" _Hermione cut herself off when Riel reached down again and gently uncoiled the snake from his arm, handing it to Garrett behind him. When his twin brother had taken it, Riel turned to Hermione again and gave her a small, comforting smile.

"Relax, Aunt Hermione… It's just a snake…They're harmless unless they're provoked." He told her, glancing over his shoulder and hissing soothingly to the snake, causing it to stop wriggling in Garrett's hand. Unable to stop herself, Hermione gasped again and covered her mouth with her hands.

_I thought Harry was one of the few remaining parselmouths left! Who are they?_

"Who…are you? And how do you know parseltongue?" Hermione's voice broke slightly as she studied their nervous faces, watching as the two blonde boys suddenly turned to glance back warningly at the two other teenagers behind them. Hermione saw this and suddenly noticed the presence of the two girls behind them for the first time. She studied their faces as well and then spoke again, giving the group a sharp, stern, disciplinary glare that would have made McGonagall proud.

"I'll ask you all again, what are your names? My name is Hermione Granger and I am _your _Head Girl." She declared firmly, narrowing her eyes when the four teens just stared blankly at her.

"…"

"Anyone?" Hermione gritted her teeth at their gaping, pale-faced expressions.

The two other students behind the twins – a Ravenclaw blonde girl who looked about one to two years younger than Hermione and a brown-haired Hufflepuff girl about the same age – glanced over at Hermione a couple of times in obvious trepidation. Both, she thought, were beautiful in different ways, although the blonde girl had on too much make-up for Hermione's tastes.

However, they were both staring at her as though she were a wailing, headless zombie. Unconsciously, Hermione felt her left eye beginning to twitch in annoyance.

"If neither of you don't tell me right _now _why you are all out of bed and breaking curfew, so help me, I will not only take off house points but I will send you straight to the Headmas—"

"The _Headmaster!" _Riel had suddenly exclaimed, breaking right through Hermione's well-formed tirade as he turned and glanced pointedly at his companions. "Headmaster Dumbledore should be able to help us! We have to go talk to him, he can send us back!" He told them and this time, his exclamations were followed by his twin brother's relieved grin.

"Riel, you're a genius! Come on, let's go see him—" Garrett was just on the verge of rushing right out the door when Hermione finally reached out and grabbed the blonde by his collar, holding him back firmly in place. Noticing Hermione's annoyance, Garrett suddenly gulped and turned back around slowly, lifting wide green eyes back up to stare at her.

"A—Aunt Hermione—?"

Again, Hermione's left eye twitched and she finally exploded in a high-pitched screech.

"Look! I don't know who _any _of you are but I most certainly do _not _appreciate being called your 'Aunt'. That's not only rude but also very insolent of you! What are your names?" She asked sharply, causing the twins to wince and suddenly snap to attention. Riel gulped but answered her first.

"L—look…Aunt Hermione… I—I mean, _Hermione…_Uhm…I know _exactly _how this must look like to you right now but you have to believe me when I say that we do _not _belong here. I'm Gabriel—"

"I'll say." Hermione scoffed and checked her watch again, shaking her head in disapproval. "It's past 11PM in the evening, you four should be in bed by now. I should be taking points off all your houses. What are you even doing here?" She repeated sternly, glancing over at their uniforms again.

Paling, the boy in front of her hastily yanked a badge off the front of his robes while one of the girls behind him, the one with blonde hair, suddenly scowled at snapped back at her. "We don't have to do _anything _you say, we're not even from your time! Do you know anybody we can talk to—" She stopped when the brunette next to her nudged her sharply, forcing her to snap her mouth shut.

Annoyed at the blonde girl's rudeness, Hermione glared at her and snapped back.

"Excuse me?" She walked right up to her and held her wand out so she could illuminate the girl's face. "I happen to be Head Girl of this school, of _course _you have to do what I say! Now, _what _are your names—" Frowning, she lifted her wand to illuminate the girl's face but as soon as she saw her features up close, she froze and her eyes widened in a mixture of shock and confusion.

"Do I—" Hermione paused as her eyebrows fused together. "—know you…?" She frowned.

The blonde girl suddenly stiffened, and she looked up at the twin blonde boys for help.

"My name is…Hailene Antoinette Malfoy…I'm…I'm Gabriel and Garrett's younger sister, I—"

Hermione's eyes bugged and her jaw dropped open as she stared at the girl in front of her, finally noticing for the first time the girl's distinctive silver-blonde hair and her unmistakable Malfoy chin. Her features were beautiful but _certainly _not like any Malfoy Hermione had ever seen before.

Unfortunately, as she did this, she failed to notice that the other three students behind her had snapped out of their shocked-induced dazes as well and were now running hurriedly up to her.

"A—Aunt Hermione, you've got to help us! Look, we know this all seems strange to you right now…B—but…My name's Gabriel and this is my twin brother Garrett…" The boy who had referred to himself as 'Gabriel' caught Hermione's attention again and she turned towards him in confusion. "This is our sister Hailene and our cousin, Abi…We're…Well, we're from _another _time frame different from yours and we need your help." Gabriel winced when Hermione reacted by scoffing loudly at him.

"_Another _time frame? 'Aunt' Hermione? Is this some kind of prank you're pulling on me? Did _Malfoy _put you all up to this?" She turned her glare to the boy named 'Garrett' behind her, then over to the brunette named 'Abigail' before turning her attention to Gabriel again. "Look, I don't know _who _you are but I'm taking you all to the Headmaster's office right now! This little 'joke' of yours has gone on long enough!" She declared but before she could turn away, Garrett reached out to grab her arm.

"Aunt Hermione, _please _just listen_—"_

Hermione whirled around and snapped at him instantly, yanking her arm free from the blonde's grasp. "Stop calling me that! I am _not _your Aunt and even if you 'were' from another time frame, no 'Malfoy' would ever be a nephew or godson of _mine!_" Hermione huffed back, rolling her eyes.

"B—but—"

"Shush now!" Hermione interrupted again, leveling all four of them with a reprimanding glare. "I'm taking you to Headmaster Dumbledore and maybe you can tell _him _all about your little time traveling story!" She snapped, the sarcasm in her voice telling them that she didn't' believe them.

Gabriel had to try one last time.

"You have to help us! Please! My time turner is b—broken and we're stuck here—"

At that, Hermione's eyebrows finally rose up in concern and she cut him off. "Wait a minute here, Gabriel…Wait…" She held up a hand and looked carefully at his expression. "You…mentioned something about a time turner…You said it was broken? How did it break?" She noticed that Abigail had looked as though she was going to answer her but before she spoke, Hermione pressed further.

"And what in Merlin's name were you four doing fiddling around with a time turner?" She glared accusingly at them, waiting for their response. When neither Garrett nor Gabriel seemed inclined to say anything and Hailene was just scowling at the floor, Abigail spoke up for the first time.

"That was my fault, Aunt Hermione…I'm…" Abigail hesitated, twiddling her thumbs nervously under Hermione's scrutinizing gaze. "…My name's Abigail…I'm partly to blame for this mess. See, my cousins and I were fiddling with the time turner and it accidentally slipped…" She pointed to the mess of parts on the floor of the classroom, to which Hermione stared at and her eyebrows arched in horror.

"H—holy Merlin—"

"—so you _see…_Aunt Hermione…We really _are _from a different time frame…And…We need your help. Can you please take us to the Headmaster?" Abigail finished slowly, watching the emotions on Hermione's face. Unfortunately, the Head Girl wasn't in _any _state to say anything in that moment so she continued to stare at them in horrified realization, her brown eyes looking at them one-by-one. When after a few more minutes of silence and Hermione still hadn't said anything, Abigail spoke again.

"Aunt Hermione?"

Hermione's jaw opened and closed for a moments as she continued to take in their sheepish, nervous expressions. Finally, when she had found her voice, she spoke again and she directed her attention mostly to Garrett and Gabriel in horror. "A—are any of you…_my _children…?" She croaked out.

Scoffing, Hailene rolled her eyes and crossed her arms derisively over her chest.

"You wish—ow! _Hey!_" Hailene scowled again and rubbed at the spore spot on her torso where Abigail had nudged her again. Glaring at the blonde girl in warning, Abigail turned back to Hermione.

"We're not your children, Aunt Hermione…But you're a close guardian of ours in the future. Please...We need your help...We _really _must talk to Headmaster Dumbledore as soon as possible." She implored pleadingly and when Gabriel and Garrett nodded frantically behind her, Hermione finally sighed in defeat. Her eyebrows fusing together, she stared at all of them again with a curious look.

"You're…really not lying to me aren't you…?" She asked them in genuine amazement.

The four teenagers just stared back grimly at her, their features frozen in a nervous cringe.

Hermione couldn't help peering at them for a few moments with a smile of wonderment before she nodded slowly, turning her solemn expression back to Garrett. "Who…are…you…_really_?" She asked.

With wide, agonizingly familiar emerald green eyes, Garrett stared back at her for a few moments before finally answering her question by rewarding Hermione with a weak sideways grin.

"Trust me…You wouldn't believe us if we told you."

* * *

"—and so the time turner broke and now we're stuck here and we don't know to get back! Father's going to go ballistic, not to mention Mom is going to tear my ear right off – they can't find out, you have to help us, WE HAVE TO GET BACK HEADMASTER! WE DIDN'T MEAN TO GET HERE—"

Garrett cut into Gabriel's long, breathless rant.

"—IT WASN'T MY FAULT! I didn't do anything, it was an accident! Bloody time turner thingees break easily – you'll be able to fix it right Headmaster? You'll be able to send us back will you – oh please say you can – we can go back right, we can still go back? We're dead if we're stuck here—"

Hailene erupted into a furious screech, cutting right through her brother's protests.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, GARRETT! If you hadn't been meddling around in matters not concerning you, this wouldn't have happened! You're such a screw-up, now Mom and Father are going to punish all of us for something YOU did wrong!" She yelled at him, her gray eyes flashing in anger.

Garrett's eyes narrowed and he growled at the younger Malfoy in warning.

"How _DARE _you pin this one on _ME, _Princess Brat?"

Hailene gasped, her eyes flashing dangerously. "What did you call me?"

"Guys will you please stop making things worse? Hailene, this wasn't Garrett's fault—"

"Oh shut up, Riel! For once, this is something your perfect self can't remedy so don't bother!"

"Excuse me, Hale?" Gabriel features darkened into an angry sneer.

"Guys! Stop fighting, this isn't going to help us get back!"

"You shut up too, Abigail! This is _YOUR _fault! You and your stupid need to find your parents!"

"Oh so it's everyone else's fault except for you, Hailene?"

"I said shut up, you orphan!"

"Why you—"

At a complete loss for words, Dumbledore stared at the foursome in front of him in shocked silence, his bright blue eyes wide but twinkling with so much mirth that Garrett began to feel annoyed.

"_WELL?_" Garrett snapped impatiently as he stared at the gaping Headmaster again, shifting his feet uncomfortably when he felt the horrified stare Hermione was giving them from the back.

Dumbledore's lips twitched upwards and he leaned back against his seat with a soft chuckle. "Might I say, Garrett, that you are so _uncannily _like your father? Well—" He smiled again and corrected himself. "—except your eyes, of course…No doubt, you have your mother's green eyes—"

Garrett's eyes flashed and he bared his teeth at the laughing Headmaster. "I _know, _I _know! _I have my mother's eyes, I get it!" He turned to Hermione, growing even more irritated when he saw that the Head Girl was still in shock. "If I had a _galleon _for every single time someone said that, I'd be bloody richer than Gringotts! Can you help us or not, Headmaster? We're rather desperate here!"

Looking around, he noticed the way Hermione looked as though she was having trouble trying to prevent herself from fainting and without warning, he snapped at her. "Bloody hell! Stop staring!"

The Head Girl jumped in surprise at his voice but then before she could answer, Dumbledore chuckled again and cut her off. "Miss Granger's reaction is hardly unexpected, Mister Malfoy…Considering your father _and _your 'mother' are still sworn enemies. I'm afraid…This 'change' you're talking about…hasn't happened…and won't be happening any time soon." He added slowly.

At this, Garrett, Gabriel and Hailene gaped at him in horror while Abigail just stared back and forth between her cousins and Dumbledore in confusion. "What? What hasn't happened?" She asked.

Turning his attention slowly to her, Dumbledore offered her a small smile. "It means, my dear, that Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter _still _hate each other and Harry Potter is _still _a boy." He turned back hastily to Garrett, Gabriel and Hailene when he heard the latter gasp in horror. "And quite a handsome one, at that." Dumbledore added with a quirky smile, causing Garrett and Gabriel to pale even more.

"But…H—Headmaster, what are we going to do—" Gabriel was cut off sharply when Hermione finally spoke up for the first time since the entire conversation had started. Shaking her head furiously, the brunette stalked over to the Headmaster's table and slammed her palms down on the surface.

"Headmaster, this is _absurd!_" Hermione's voice was high-pitched as she glared at Garrett and Gabriel as though they were flobberworms. "You can't honestly believe these ridiculous claims! For all we know, these children could be related to Malfoy and just be pulling this prank on his orders!" She sputtered. "What they are suggesting is impossible! I—" She froze when Dumbledore cut her off gently.

"Mister Malfoy…" This time, Dumbledore had spoken softly to Gabriel and he was gesturing to the quiet black snake that was wrapped around his upper arm. "If you might be so kind as to tell me what your snake's name is?" He asked, smiling when Gabriel gave him a strange look but obliged.

"Sylens…His name is Sylens." He told him and when Sylens slithered further up his arm, he spoke gently to it in parseltongue, offering words of encouragement to it to calm it down before he turned back to look at Dumbledore. The Headmaster smiled at him, then glanced back at Hermione.

"Miss Granger…" He began, causing Hermione to flinch at the light hint of admonishment in his voice. "…you know as well as _anybody _that one of the very few _living _parselmouth in existence today is Harry…And it seems strange to note that these two children…" He gestured to Garrett and Gabriel. "…have Mister Potter's unique gift…_and _Mister Malfoy's looks. We cannot deny the truth." He told her.

Again, Hermione winced but she nodded and glanced back at the twins. "So…What do you suppose we should do with them _now, _Headmaster?" She shook her head and held up the broken time-turner parts she still held in her hand. "To repair a time-turner and to rebuild it in _such _a way that it recreates the exact and _precise _moment of _their _time could take weeks! We can't have them stay here!" She exclaimed, causing Dumbledore to frown slightly and turn back to look at them.

In front of her, Gabriel and Hailene were looking up at the Headmaster and were twiddling their thumbs in agitation while Abigail was staring at the floor, her eyes downcast. To Garrett's mild annoyance, Dumbledore ignored them all and turned to Abigail instead, giving her a comforting smile.

"…And who might _you _be, sweet girl…? If you don't mind my asking." He asked gently, causing Abigail to blink in surprise at being addressed. Looking up, she watched as Dumbledore stood up slowly from his seat and began to walk over to her, petting Fawkes gently as he passed. When he got to where Abigail was standing, the Headmaster smiled again and placed a hand gently on her arm.

"…Tell me child…Who are _your _parents?" He asked, his eyes soft with genuine curiosity as he reached up and gently pushed a stray strand of Abigail's auburn-colored hair out of her eyes.

Faltering slightly under everyone's attention, Abigail bit her lip but looked up and answered Dumbledore in a soft voice. "A—actually, Headmaster…I was hoping to find that out _here._" She noticed the surprised expression on Dumbledore's face but she continued before he got the chance to ask her what she meant. "I…I'm adopted, you see…Adopted by the Malfoy family…I'm not a Malfoy by blood… I wish to know who my real parents are." She looked up and met the Headmaster's eyes with a solemn gaze. "I was told that my parents were from this time frame…Please let me look for them."

Swallowing the dryness that had formed in her throat, Abigail lifted her expression from Dumbledore to Hermione and added. "I promise I won't mess anything up…I won't draw attention to myself… But I really _do _just want to know who my real parents are…Please give me this opportunity—"

Dumbledore smiled sadly at her as he cut her off, reaching a hand over again and squeezing her shoulder gently in comfort. When Abigail glanced back up at him, he gave her a solemn look. "Abi…I understand how painful it is to grow up not knowing who your real parents are…But sometimes, these things…There may _be _a reason for your parents _now _not telling you but when the time comes—"

Abigail's eyes flashed and she glared at him, moving away. "I _know _all that! I _know _all of the excuses my fathers have given me! But I won't take them anymore, I have a _right _to know who I am and where I'm from! And I intend to find that out here!" She snapped, stubbornly shaking her head.

Sighing again and raising a hand to massage the bridge of his nose, Dumbledore could only nod back at this in defeat before he turned around again and glanced back over at Hermione. The Head Girl still looked bothered by the entire ordeal but she was waiting for him to give her instructions.

"About your queries, Miss Granger…" Dumbledore began, flicking his gaze back over to Garrett, Gabriel and Hailene across the room. "…Hmm…Well, I agree that we most certainly can _not _have Draco _or _Harry find out anything about them…That would prove dangerous indeed…But…For the mean time, I suppose they may have to stay here while we fix their time turner." Dumbledore raised his wand, causing the three blondes to wince as he swished it over them and whispered an incantation.

Immediately, Garrett looked around to look for the spell's effects but froze when he came upon the sight of twin brother and sister, who at that moment were looking back at him with the same shocked stares. From what he could see, Dumbledore had enchanted their sleek platinum hair into a dark, midnight black color. The strands were shaggier, thicker than before, and upon noticing this, Hailene suddenly gasped and she glared daggers at the Headmaster, screeching in angry indignation.

"H—How dare you? Change this horrid looking hair back _now,_ Headmaster! Or I'll…I'll—"

Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes. "The color of your hair sends out too much of your identity. Your father will immediately be able to suspect you're related to him. Only Malfoys are known to carry that color of blonde hair, it's too risky." She walked over to them, seizing each of them up.

"That's good, Headmaster…" She glanced back at Dumbledore with a nod. "Other than their eyes, nothing else gives them away now…And I doubt Malfoy would get close enough to notice their facial features anyway." She glanced down at each of their robes and frowned, shaking her head.

"They can't stay in their houses now without being heavily supervised. It's too risky…What do you suppose we should do with them, Headmaster?" She asked, massaging her temples in exhaustion.

Pausing for a few minutes, Dumbledore let his gaze travel from one teenager to the next before those blue eyes finally twinkled and he chuckled, giving Hermione a wide, cheerful smile.

"Miss Granger, if you would be so kind as to fetch our Head Boy for me…?"

* * *

17-year-old Draco Malfoy was definitely _not _having a good morning.

The day itself had surprisingly started out well enough – with Draco waking up to his usual morning ritual of having to remember the name of the girl whose bed he was supposedly sleeping in. As soon as he figured this out, which usually took the Slytherin about fifteen minutes or so, Draco would jump out of bed, toss on his clothes from the night before and then reward his rousing bed partner with a careless peck on the cheek. After this, he would usually storm out of the room and head on back to his dormitory to take a quick shower and read up a bit for his morning classes.

_This _morning was an entirely different exception.

Not only had Draco woken up to realize that he had a head-splitting _hangover_ from the night before but he had also woken up in none other than _Pansy Parkinson's _bedroom. Seeing Pansy's face so early in the morning had made his headache worse. After he had wrestled with the girl for quite some time to get himself free, Draco had finally managed to jump out of bed and race for his dorm.

To add further to his incrimination, his Slytherin friends had been in the Common Room that morning when he had stormed out – and at the sight the Head Boy's ragged state, Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise and Nott had all smirked and hooted loudly, causing Draco to glare at them as he passed by.

As soon as he had gotten there, he had barely even finished his morning shower – to scrub himself clean of all reminders of his disgusting 'rendezvous' with Pansy – when the Headmaster's owl had come flying through his dormitory window. Rushing out of the shower, Draco had intercepted the owl and scowled when he saw that the Headmaster was requesting for him in his office immediately.

And so there Draco was, grumbling and hurriedly making his way to the Headmaster's office while his head continued to throb in excruciating pain. He had bumped into some housemates along the way too, all of whom were particularly kind enough to recall some of last night's drunken events.

Needless to say, Draco really did not need to be reminded that Pansy had gotten into his pants.

"Ugh…Bloody woman…From now on, I'm passing up alcohol for a month." Draco grumbled irritably to himself as he rounded a corner, raising a hand to massage his aching temples. "Merlin, I can still smell Parkinson's bloody perfume all over me, I need another damn shower." He muttered.

He turned another corner again as he made his way towards Gryffindor towers, scowling every now and then as he encountered students who were headed in the opposite direction. As soon as he reached the entrance to Dumbledore's office, Draco suddenly froze and gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Damn it…What was that old sod's bloody password again?" He glared up at the gargoyle statue as though it were his fault and began tapping his foot impatiently against the stone floor.

"Licorice Wand?"

The gargoyle stared back blankly at him.

"Chocolate frogs?"

Draco frowned and his left eye twitched when the gargoyle statue simply refused to budge.

"Cockroach cluster?"

"…"

"Argh! Bugger, just bloody open up, will you?" Draco stamped his foot against the floor and growled, wracking his brain for any more of those disgusting candies he had seen in Hogsmeade.

"Lizard Lollipops?"

Immediately, the gargoyle sprang to life and ignoring Draco's disgusted grimace, it held the doors to the Headmaster's office open, allowing the scowling Slytherin to pass through. Shaking his head, Draco climbed up the staircase and pushed impatiently through the doors of Dumbledore's office.

Unfortunately, Draco was completely unprepared for the sight that soon followed behind those closed doors as six pairs of eyes had turned to stare directly at him. Cautiously, the Head Boy froze right as he had stepped into the large office and looked around, carefully observing his surroundings.

"…Headmaster?" Draco heard the wariness in his own voice as he looked across the room at Dumbledore, who for some asinine reason was creepily smiling at him from where he was seated behind his desk across the room As always, the Headmaster's bright blue eyes were twinkling with something Draco, for the life of him, could not understand so he took several steps back from him.

"_DADDY, I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU!"_

Draco's eyes widened in shock.

Sputtering indignantly, his gaze flicked over to the student who had spoken – a black-haired Ravenclaw girl seated in front of the Headmaster's desk who was looking at him with wide gray eyes. She looked a few years younger than he was – perhaps fourth or fifth year – but she was strikingly beautiful and Draco could not help but wonder how he had never noticed such a beautiful girl before.

However, that _still _did not discount the fact that she had called him 'Daddy' and the strangeness of the entire situation was not lost to Draco as he glared at her, narrowing his eyes.

"Excuse me?" He sneered when the girl had looked as though she had also realized what she had said and gasping, she clamped both of her hands over her mouth in horror. Behind her, Dumbledore's smile had widened and the Headmaster looked as though he was holding in laughter.

Draco's eyes narrowed even further at this and he sneered at the Headmaster in annoyance.

_What does that old coot think he's laughing at? _Scowling, Draco tore his glare away from Dumbledore and the girl and glanced at the room's other occupants in confusion. He noticed, with some surprise, that Hermione Granger was there as well, seated just across the pretty Ravenclaw girl.

The Head Girl was gaping at him – well, gaping in the way one would gape at a blast-ended skrewt behind a magical magnifying glass – and her eyes were flicking back and forth between Draco and the other students behind her. Annoyed, Draco followed her gaze and found himself sneering even further in contempt at the sight of three more students – two pale boys with shaggy black hair and one small girl with auburn hair – gaping at him as well, and they looked completely frozen in place.

Narrowing his eyes, Draco tore his glare from them and turned his annoyed sneer to Hermione.

"Granger, I believe it's bad manners for debutantes to stare with their jaw hanging open like that. Unless of course, your gaping is from my incredibly attractive good looks, in which case, I couldn't blame you." Draco smirked in amusement when Hermione instantly snapped her mouth shut.

Glaring at him in annoyance, Hermione looked as though she was going to snap something back at him but then, Draco ignored her and turned his scathing attention to the students behind her. "And who might _these _three losers be?" Draco's sneer widened as he glared at the two pale boys again.

"Hmm…I don't think I've ever seen such a pathetic looking pair of identical twins before, you two could stand to do with a few face alterations. Not to mention your hair looks like it hasn't been washed in months." Draco's lips twitched when he saw that one of the boys had growled and sneered back at him. Ignoring his twin brother's hisses at him, he glared back at Draco and narrowed his eyes.

"You're one to talk, you thick-headed pompous jerk! Have you looked at a mirror, lately? Maybe you'd actually notice that we look like—" The boy was cut off and he winced when his twin brother beside him had nudged him again, this time more sharply, and yanked him away in warning.

"Garrett, shut _up! _You're not helping!" The other boy looked up and suddenly glanced at Draco again, giving the Head Boy a sheepish smile and shrug. "H—hi…Fath—_I mean! _Hi Malfoy…We're uh...Well, that is—" As he struggled for something to say, Draco feigned a yawn and rolled his eyes.

"Bloody Merlin's beard…" Draco drawled and lazily flicked his eyes over to the Headmaster again. "If we go at this idiot's brain pace, we'd be stuck in here for hours." He added, failing to notice the way the black-haired boy's eyes had flashed at this insult. He glared at the back of Draco's head.

"Wow. I guess they weren't kidding when they said you were a bigger jerk back then—"

"Riel, _shh! _Let the Headmaster explain!_"_

It was the auburn-haired girl who had spoken this time and she glared at him in warning.

Highly amused by now, Dumbledore had taken notice of the way Draco was now looking extremely agitated and was leaning against the opposite wall of the office in growing impatience, his arms crossed and one of his ankles resting lazily against the other. The Head boy began drumming his fingers impatiently against his arm, obviously waiting for Dumbledore to explain the situation.

Shaking his head, Dumbledore met Hermione's exasperated look one last time before he chuckled and gestured for Draco to take the seat across Hermione and the black-haired Ravenclaw girl.

"If you'll just have a seat, Mister Malfoy…I believe we have an important matter to discuss with you." He gestured to the seat again and waited patiently as Draco grumbled but obliged, grudgingly taking the seat across Hermione and glaring at the black-haired girl again in annoyance.

She looked at him and, ignoring Hermione's grip on her arm, desperately blurted out. "Da—_Draco_! Please help me! I don't want to be stuck here, I want to go home! Please help me, I'm stuck with these idiots, I don't know how to get back—" Her gray eyes began to flood with tears and her voice began to break with sobs as she rushed this all out but Draco just glared back coolly at her.

Then, sneering at her in disdain, Draco just leaned back casually against his seat and scoffed.

"Granger, get that babbling idiot to shut up and stop crying at me. It's disgusting." He drawled rudely, causing the black-haired girl to stop talking instantly and stare back at him in absolute shock.

"Wh—what? B—but—"

"_SHUT UP!" _Draco suddenly exploded at her, his face twisting into a snarl.

Draco's left eye twitched in irritation as he glared dangerously back at her, noting for the first time the girl's mercury gray eyes and the way they were now pooling even more with tears. However, as soon as he saw the girl's stung, crestfallen expression, Draco instantly felt a strange feeling of guilt and remorse erupt inside his chest and without him realizing it, his expression suddenly softened.

He turned back to Dumbledore and spoke softly. "Would somebody tell me what's going on—"

"Don't you _DARE _shout at her, you jerk! How dare you—" The same black-haired boy who had shouted at Draco before suddenly tried to lunge for him again but his twin brother held him back.

"Garrett, stop it!"

"Well, he was shouting at Hailene, Gabriel! Didn't you see what he did?"

"He can't help it, Gar! He doesn't know what's going on! He doesn't even know who we are!"

"Yes." Draco cut in sharply, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "I _don't _know what's going on, so if any of you would kindly _explain _to me why I have been called here, I would _greatly _appreciate it." He added snidely, directing most of his angry expression at Dumbledore and Hermione.

Hermione, for her part, had looked as though she wanted to answer Draco's question but Dumbledore shook his head at her, causing the Head Girl to sigh and nod back at him in defeat.

"Oookay…Headmaster, then…?" Draco arched an eyebrow expectantly at him in annoyance.

Frowning, Dumbledore gestured for Hermione to usher the other four teenagers slowly out of the room, to which Hermione nodded again and obliged. As soon as they were gone, including the crying Ravenclaw girl Draco had shouted at, the room grew silent and Draco felt a stab of agitation.

"Headmaster…I believe I have class in about half an hour. I would appreciate it if you could tell me why you have summoned me here this early in the morning." Draco drawled, watching as Dumbledore sat back down at his table across from him and gave him a strange, curious expression.

Then, after what seemed like hours of silence, Dumbledore finally began to speak, choosing his words very carefully. "Mister Malfoy…You realize that, one of the advantages of being a Head Boy or a Head Girl…Is that, to allow you more time for your classes _and _your duties, we allow you the use of a time turner…?" He said nonchalantly, causing Draco's eyebrows to fuse together in question.

"Er…Yes, Headmaster, I'm well aware of that. In fact, I've been taking good care of mine, I can assure you that." He answered, holding up the time-turner necklace he was wearing. "Is that what this is all about? Because as far as I know, I have been extremely careful in using it, I haven't—"

"No, Mister Malfoy…Unfortunately, that isn't what I've called you here for." Dumbledore paused for a few seconds to gather his thoughts before he continued. "You see…Another student of mine…Well, you may not be aware of who he is _now _because he is… shall we say, _not _from _this _time of yours—" He winced when Draco immediately cut him off, the Slytherin glaring at him in incredulity.

"Not from my time? What the bloody hell does that mean—"

"—in _any _case, Mister Malfoy…" Dumbledore smiled grimly at him. "One of my Head Boys in the _future _has…Unfortunately…had a minor accident with his time turner…And it will take a few weeks before we are able to fix it." Dumbledore ignored the way Draco was gaping at him in mortification.

"Now…these _four _students…that you saw in here with Miss Granger just several moments ago…Well, they will be needing special attention for these next few weeks." Dumbledore chuckled and reached up to stroke Fawkes' feathers in idle thought. "For the mean time, you _and _Miss Granger will be in charge of looking after them—" Draco looked as though he was going to refuse but Dumbledore continued further. "—to make sure they keep out of trouble and that they avoid _any _unnecessary interaction with the other students…After all, we wouldn't want to mess up the time continuum now, would we?" Dumbledore gave him another mirthful, quirky smile at this, causing Draco to flinch.

"T—time continuum?" Draco's high-pitched voice broke and he looked at Dumbledore as though he was insane. "Headmaster, are you bloody crazy? How do you expect us to keep these kids, knowing they could mess up a lot of important events? How can I always keep an eye on them—?"

Dumbledore raised a hand, cutting him off. "Two of them, the twin boys, will be staying with you in _your _Head Boy dormitory, Mister Malfoy… And you will bring them with you at _all _times, even during classes. Miss Granger will be taking in the two girls, and will likewise be doing the same thing. Now—" Again, Dumbledore noticed the violent reaction in Draco's expression but he kept on talking.

"You are hereby absolutely _forbidden _to divulge any of this important information about any of these four students to anyone else…And you are most certainly _forbidden _to ask these kids _anything _about their future or their world…Otherwise, you could end up jeopardizing _both _our time frames. Is that understood, Mister Malfoy?" Dumbledore glanced back at him, smiling at the fury in Draco's eyes.

"B—but…Granger knows—!"

"Miss Granger knows but I can assure you, Draco…As soon as I call her back in, I will _partially _modify her memory so that even she doesn't know who these kids are. We cannot have _anyone_, not even you or Miss Granger, knowing their identity. For everyone's sake." Dumbledore told him firmly.

At this, the Head Boy had looked as though someone had punched him directly in the gut. "Headmaster, this is absolutely _absurd_! You can't expect us to let them stay here, we have to send them back to their time immediately! Who are they? Who are their parents—" He stopped when Dumbledore raised a hand up again and held up a single finger, indicating for Draco to stop talking.

"Ah, ah, ah…Mister Malfoy, what did I just say about asking any information about these children…?" He shook his head carefully at the blonde, successfully raising Draco's hackles even more.

"Headmaster! Hunting season begins next _month, _I can't be stuck babysitting a bunch of godforsaken children from the future! I need to start looking for a potential wife soon! I can't—"

At that, Dumbledore's smile widened even more and he winked knowingly at him. "Well then, I guess it's safe to assume, Mister Malfoy, that we had best make sure these four children have all gone by the time hunting season starts then, huh?" He asked, whistling nonchalantly in idle thought.

Unconsciously, Draco's left eye twitched and he looked just about ready to strangle the Headmaster.

"B—b—but—"

"No buts, Mister Malfoy." Dumbledore's bright blue eyes twinkled mischievously and he smiled at the gaping blonde in front of him again before leaning back carefully against his seat. "If you'd like…Just…Think of this as a really…_extensive _babysitting job that you will be doing for the next couple of weeks." He added cheerfully, chuckling again when Draco looked as though he was going to faint.

"B—babysitting…?" Draco croaked out in disbelief, his eyes going as wide as saucers.

Dumbledore's eyes brightened as he smiled back mysteriously at him.

"Babysitting."

* * *

**A/N: **WAHAHA! And so the madness begins! Poor Draco, I just love to pick on him in my stories! :D Oh yeah, some clarifications first! In the story, I assumed that for Garrett, Gabriel, Hailene and Abigail to get back, they'd have to use the _SAME _time turner they used to get them to the past. They also need to have that _SAME_ time turner set to the _exact _same moment they had initially left the present. In that sense, they can't use any other time turner to get back and would have to just wait it out. :D

ALSO! The children arrived exactly ONE MONTH before the events of TPG. Er…So yeah, we can all imagine the kind of mayhem and shocks in store for all of them, huh? :D

**Next Chapter: **The girls meet Harry and the Gang! The boys meet the Slytherins! (and find out just how much of a royal prick their father used to be), plus more surprises in store! :D

DEATHLY HALLOWS WAS AWESOME! I just watched the final movie last Friday and I almost cried! Oh my childhood, why have you forsaken me? *bawls* Oh well, there's always fanfiction, huh? :D

**PLEASE REVIEW Y'ALL! PEACE, LOVE AND ALL THAT JAZZ! CHEERS! :D**


	6. Of Fickle Fathers & Freudian Horrors

**Title: The Perfect Mother**

**Author: **slytherin-nette

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters you recognize from the HP books in this story. All I own is the plot. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling. She rocks.

**Pairings: **DM/femHP, GrM/?, Gb/?, HM/?, Many others. :D

**Warnings: **This is a **NEXT GENERATION **story based on the characters and universe of TPG/TPW so hopefully, you've all read those two stories first before attempting to read this one. Also, be warned of slow updates on this story as I will be focusing most of my attention on my other two stories.

**A/N**: YES! I HAVE RETURNED WITH YET ANOTHER CHAPTER! CHEER FOR ME! I AM AWESOME! :D Normally I don't update at this rate anymore but my muse has been inspiring me a lot lately. Oh well, good news for you guys! If only I could say the same about my muse for Phoenix Tears though. T_T But never fear, guys! I'm not abandoning Phoenix Tears! Just give me some more time with it, I'll make sure I finish it soon enough. So without further ado…Enjoy the chapter! :D

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Of Fickle Fathers & Freudian Horrors **

****PAST****

Draco felt another stab of irritation as he looked up into Garrett and Gabriel's identical doe-eyed stares at him from where all three of them were seated by the living room in Draco's dormitory.

"…"

Neither of the two shaggy-haired, green-eyed boys was blinking.

_"WHAT? WHAT IS IT ALREADY? WHY ARE YOU STARING AT ME?_"

At Draco's sudden outburst, Garrett and Gabriel jolted from the living room sofa and shared a 'meep', glancing back up at the irate Head Boy with a sheepish smile. When Draco seethed and glared at them as though demanding an explanation, the twins just bit their lip and hastily looked away.

"What? Bloody hell, what is it with you two and your doe-eyed faces? Have you _never _seen an actual human being before? Bloody Merlin's beard, you'd think I was a ghost or something!" Draco muttered under his breath as he leaned back against the couch and stared intently at the two boys.

"So…" He smirked and drummed his fingers against the glass coffee table in front of him. "Garrett and Gabriel, huh? What kind of stupid names are those? Your parents must hate you." Draco drawled, earning himself a particularly nasty glare from Garrett as he looked up and snarled at him.

"The thought crossed my mind." He growled back, earning himself another smirk from Draco again as he merely arched an eyebrow at him and looked away. "Ah well, can't have them all, I guess. Hmm…" Draco stroked his chin as he let his thoughtful gaze study both the twins in mild curiosity.

"You're both from the future, huh…? Truly?" He waited until Garrett and Gabriel had both glanced awkwardly at each other before they looked back at him and nodded slowly in confirmation.

At this, Draco's smirk widened and his gray eyes twinkled mischievously as he surveyed their expressions. "Oh yeah…?" He rested his left ankle on one of his knees and leaned back, resting his elbows arrogantly against the couch's armrests. "I don't believe you…Prove it to me." He challenged.

Gabriel blinked and stared dumbly at him. "Er…How?"

Draco narrowed his eyes for a few minutes in thought before he smirked and arched an eyebrow at Gabriel. "Do I or do I _not _graduate as the Hogwarts Valedictorian this year?" He asked.

Sighing, Gabriel just rolled his eyes but nodded in defeat, slinking back against his seat.

"Yes, you do."

Draco's smirk grew and he stroked his chin again, obviously thinking of another question.

"Do I…meet my future wife within the next few days?"

At this, Gabriel's lips twitched in amusement and he shook his head firmly in response.

"…No."

Frowning, Draco looked a little put out at this but he recovered himself and went on.

"Do I…marry a mudblood?"

Gabriel failed to notice the way Garrett was rolling his eyes in exasperation beside him.

"No."

Grinning in relief, Draco nodded his approval and leaned back against his seat again. "Bloody hell, this is wicked. I _knew _there was a reason I agreed to take you two stupid gits in with me. Otherwise, I would never have bothered. So…Tell me." He leaned over the table between them and whispered under his breath. "Are you, by any chance, connected to me or affiliated with me in _any conceivable way _in the future you're from?" He asked them, studying their expressions carefully.

At this, Garrett and Gabriel both stiffened in alarm and glanced pointedly at each other.

Eventually, Gabriel was forced to respond. "…Yes."

Draco's haughty smile grew and he chuckled, looking very pleased with himself.

"…Is that so?" He paused and began tapping his index finger lightly against his chin in thought

"Hmm…Alright…I don't suppose you could tell me _who _I end up marrying—"

"We _can't _tell you anything about the future, remember?" Garrett suddenly cut in loudly as he reached over and yanked his twin brother away from Draco. "You're not to ask us _any _questions that could potentially reveal the future for you, it could cause trouble! So stop harassing us!" He growled.

Disappointed, Draco glared angrily at Garrett but otherwise, he sat back against his seat.

"_Fine…_" He muttered loudly, narrowing his eyes in annoyance. Still, Draco continued to study the twins in front of him in silence, taking note of their identical green eyes and familiar features.

After a few moments of awkward silence – majority of which involved the twins trying not to let Draco study their faces too closely for fear of him noticing their features – Draco spoke again.

"What's it _like_ in the future, anyway?" He asked, unable to help himself as he glanced back over at them again. When he saw the amusement in Gabriel's eyes, Draco looked a little sheepish at his own curiosity but nevertheless, he looked expectantly at them and waited for them to answer.

"I mean…" Draco paused, trying to think of the right away to phrase himself. "Are things any different there than here? Has magic advanced? Have the people changed? Or better yet, have _I _changed? What am _I _like in the future?" He asked again, alternating his gaze from Garrett to Gabriel.

Unsure of how to answer, Gabriel seemed to stare back blankly at him for a few minutes. Unfortunately, before Gabriel could react, Garrett suddenly cut him off and answered in a blunt voice.

"_Fat _and _balding._" Garrett drawled.

Draco looked horrified, his eyes almost as wide as a helpless, terrorized house-elf.

"…_WH—WHAT?"_

It was the first time the twins had ever heard their father's voice reach that pitch.

"…_Y—YOU'RE LYING!"_

Garrett was practically chewing on his own tongue to keep himself from bursting out laughing while Gabriel, on the other hand, was glaring at his smirking twin in disapproval and shaking his head.

"Gar_, _stop that!" Sighing, Gabriel shook his head again and turned back to the distraught Head Boy. "He was kidding, Dad—_Draco, _he didn't mean that. You're not fat or anything in the future—"

"_OH BUT I'M BALD?_" Draco's voice had gone from pitchy to frantic at this point and he was fidgeting impatiently around in his seat in agitation. _"MERLIN, PLEASE TELL ME I DON'T GO BALD!"_

"You _don't _go bald!" Gabriel snapped in exasperation and this time, he didn't bother quelling the irritated glare he sent to his twin brother laughing hysterically and practically choking beside him.

"That wasn't funny!" Riel seethed, wanting nothing more than to tear his hair out in frustration.

"_HAHAHAHAHA! _P—priceless! That was so worth it—"

Garrett keeled over in his seat again, wheezing through his laughter.

"_HAHAHA_—_"_

Draco cut them off again, his expression frantic as he reached across the coffee table, yanked Riel by the front of his robes and began jostling him in panic. "What about my wife? I mean…What's _she _like in the future? Am I still rich?" His voice broke and he was practically hyperventilating.

Again, Gabriel opened his mouth to answer him but his older brother already beat him to it.

"Urgh…Don't even get me _started _on that _dog _you call a wife, Draco." Garrett feigned a disgusted shudder and looked away, his bright green eyes twinkling with mirth. "One look at that 'wife' of yours is enough to scare a bloody mountain troll away, believe me." Garrett was already choking on his own muffled laughter by now but fortunately, Draco had mistaken the sound for disgust.

For the life of him, the Malfoy Heir was looking as though he was going to lose his breakfast.

"H—How is that possible—"

"Urrrghhhh!" Garrett enunciated again, ignoring the increasingly persistent nudges he was getting from Gabriel beside him. Pointedly refusing to meet Gabriel's warning glare, he nudged Gabriel back in annoyance before he continued. "Body full of cellulite, skin all saggy, blemishes everywhere, you name it, Draco. In fact, it's a wonder you married that ugly cow at all!" He chimed in further.

"B—but…But…But—"

Draco looked as though he was about to cry.

"I—I…S—she…I…"

_**THUD!**_

"…Pffft—_HAHAHAHA!"_

As the Head Boy's eyes rolled back and he fell over in a dead faint onto the floor, Garrett immediately burst out laughing again, and this time even Gabriel couldn't help suppress his laughter.

The two of them stared thoughtfully at their father's pale, unconscious figure on the floor.

"…Father is _so _going to kill you when we get back, Garrett."

Garrett's smirk faltered and in belated realization, he turned back _slowly _to glance at Gabriel.

"Oh bugger…I didn't think about that."

* * *

As they followed Hermione out of the Headmaster's office, Hailene and Abigail continued to exchange glares and sneers with one another behind her. Every so often, Hermione would turn around to address them and immediately, both girls would smile innocently – as though nothing was wrong.

They got a couple of stares and whispered comments from among the groups of students they passed along the corridors but none of them looked familiar to Hailene so far, much to her relief. As they rounded the corner towards the Head Girl dormitory, Hermione turned around to them again.

"Who did you say your parents were again?" She asked, studying Hailene and Abigail closely.

Blinking, Abigail paused and answered in a very calm, dismissive tone. ""We didn't."

Confused at this, Hailene raised an eyebrow at Abigail in question. When her cousin gave her a pointed glare, Hailene finally remembered that Dumbledore had cast a memory charm on Hermione. The Head Girl _knew _they were from the future and needed to be given special attention, but she had absolutely _no _idea or memory as to who their parents were. Dumbledore had made sure of that.

Frowning, Hermione glanced sideways at them but thankfully, the Head Girl didn't push the issue any further. Eventually, she led both Hailene and Abigail through a series of more turns and twists throughout Hogwarts Castle until they finally stopped near the entrance to the Great Hall.

"Would you mind if I take you through another way?" She asked, looking at the two girls in question. When Abigail shook her head and Hailene just shrugged at her, Hermione nodded and began leading them downstairs through a series of narrow corridors that passed through the greenhouses.

As the pair of girls followed Hermione in stone silence, eventually Hailene couldn't help turning to glare at Abigail again and giving the younger girl an angry sneer. "You know, you _do _realize that this is _your _fault right? I mean—" Hailene rolled her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"We could be back in _our _time right now if you hadn't been so eager to find your godforsaken parents – who don't even _want _you – if I may point out—" Hailene stopped when Abigail cut her off.

"Wow." Abigail shook her head and narrowed her eyes at the older Malfoy daughter just as Hermione had led them around another corner again. "Here I was, not saying _anything _and perfectly minding my _own _business and you go attack me? What is your _problem, _Hale?" She asked angrily.

Hailene snapped at her. "My _problem? _My problem is that I don't like you and I hate that I have to spend these next few weeks _waiting _here with you! I mean, do you even _know _how horrifying it is to be here and to see my parents, and I can't even _talk _to them? Or ask for their help—"

"Yeah, well at least you _have _parents, Hailene. _Wonderful _parents who care about you—"

"Oh please. Don't start that rubbish again." Hailene cut her off rudely, rolling her eyes again.

Abigail's cheeks flushed red in anger and she glared at Hailene in indignation.

"You're such a _bitch!_"

"And _you're _a pathetic _orphan!"_

"Why you arrogant little—"

"_Girls!_" Hermione sounded exasperated as she turned back around to face them, shifting her gaze from Hailene to Abigail in question. "Could we _please _keep it down back there? Look, I don't know if there's any family history between you two, but I suggest you _don't _bring it up now. We have _bigger _problems to worry about." She gave them a pointed look, causing both girls to look sheepish.

"Sorry." Abigail answered carefully, giving Hermione an apologetic grimace. Hailene, however, just stared back coldly at Hermione and arched a single eyebrow at her in acknowledgment.

Sighing, Hermione shook her head again before she turned back around and led the two girls right through one of the Professor Sprout's empty Herbology greenhouses. Making a disgusted face, Hailene hesitantly followed in after her, but just as she was halfway across the room, she tensed up.

By the very middle of the greenhouse, Hailene noticed that a large cage of poisonous, fierce-looking _pythons _had been suspended just above a small mandrake garden. The cage must have contained about ten snakes or more, and all were practically immobile – as though asleep. As Hailene passed them, however, the snakes had all suddenly glanced up and looked directly _at _her – as though sensing her presence. Feeling very uncomfortable at this, Hailene ignored them and kept on walking.

"Hale…?"

Stiffening, Hailene heard the confusion in Abigail's voice but she refused to look at the cage of snakes again when she answered.

"What?"

Abigail caught up to her and fell into step beside her as she answered. "Did you see that cage back there? Why are all those snakes looking at you like that?" She asked, glancing at the cage again.

At her question, Hailene stiffened even further and began to trail faster after Hermione. "How the bloody hell should _I _know? Maybe they want to kill me or something!" She snapped impatiently.

Frowning, Abigail shook her head at her response and continued to watch the snakes in mild curiosity. "No, I don't think so…" She fused her eyebrows together and eyed one of the large black snakes hissing loudly – as though deliberately trying to catch Hailene's attention. "I think they want to talk to you." Abigail's flicked her gaze back over at her older cousin and gave her a strange look.

"I thought you said you weren't a parselmouth. Can you talk to snakes too—?"

"_NO!" _Hailene's face had immediately flushed in anger and she shoved her cousin away. "No, I _can't _talk to snakes! I'm not a freak like my mother, I'm not!" She raged sharply, her voice breaking.

Turning away, she ignored the rest of Abigail's confused questions at her as she quickened her footsteps until she was practically kicking at Hermione's heels. Fortunately, the Head Girl remained unaware of their conversation and continued to lead them across the Herbology greenhouse in silence. As they finally exited through the opposite door of the large room, Hailene noticed that they were now on the other side of Hogwarts Castle, just by the corridor leading straight to the Quidditch Pitch.

Sighing, Hailene and Abigail trudged their feet along after the Head Girl in growing impatience.

"Are we _there _yet?" Hailene asked out loud, scowling as Hermione turned around to face her. Laughing, Hermione gestured ahead and gave them both an apologetic smile. "The Head Girl Dormitory is way on the other side of the castle. We would have taken longer had we taken the usual way, believe me." She told them. "But we're nearly there. Just have around that corner over there."

She smiled at them again and when Hailene and Abigail sighed, the three of them walked on – walking by a large group of Gryffindor students who were exiting the Quidditch Pitch. As they passed them, Hailene couldn't help but notice that the Gryffindor students were all wearing their Quidditch uniforms and were a bit rain-drenched from practice, including the dark-haired boy leading the team.

The dark-haired boy, whom Hailene assumed was their team captain, had his back turned to them but even then, she noticed that he was very good-looking. His hair was slightly unruly, as though he had just rolled out of bed and he had an athletic build – lean and toned. As his wet uniform clung on to his frame, Hailene couldn't help but smirk and rake her eyes up and down his form.

_Mmm. Not bad…If I do say so myself. _She grinned sheepishly at her own train of thought. She was just about to look away when Hermione suddenly exclaimed out loud, causing her to look up.

"_Harry! _There you are!_" _

The dark-haired boy Hailene had been staring at suddenly froze, and then turned around.

_OH. BLOODY. BLEEDING. HELL. _

Hailene and Abigail's eyes both went wide in horror.

"Hermione!"

17-year-old Harry Potter, just as every bit handsome and charming as everyone else had used to describe him, was grinning as Hermione rushed over to him, dragging the two girls along with her. As they reached him, however, Hailene was obviously still in shock and not even Abigail's prodding and yanking on her arm roused her as she continued to gape at Harry with a very horrified grimace.

_Mother of Merlin…_Unconsciously, Hailene's cheeks began to turn a sickly shade of green.

_I just checked out my own…Mother! _Hailene began to feel the walls around her spinning like crazy and before she knew it, her stomach lurched and the floor was yanked from right under her feet.

And then everything went black.

* * *

Harry Potter had never really considered himself the type of guy who was known to 'knock girls off their feet. Well, at least, he had never considered he could ever make such an impression.

In fact, the only time he could even recall that he had _ever _'knocked a girl off her feet was back in their fifth year – when he had accidentally fired a spell at Cho Chang during training and he had accidentally sent the girl flying across the room. He wasn't even sure if that incident counted.

Which was why Harry was thoroughly _shocked _when, as he and Ron were coming back from Quidditch practice with the Gryffindor Team, he had managed to knock one girl unconscious the moment she had taken a good look at his face – which hadn't even been a very long time, mind you.

_**THUD!**_

"Merlin's Beard! Is she alright?" Hermione's voice broke through Harry and Ron's initial shock and the Head Girl rushed forward, gathering the pale, fainted girl back up from the ground in panic.

Harry's eyes widened and he nearly dropped his firebolt in shock as he, Ron and the rest of the Gryffindor team behind him rushed over to Hermione as well. "Hey, is she okay? Hermione, what's wrong with her? No wait, guys! Give her some air!" Frowning, Harry made his way through the crowd that had formed around the fainted girl and crouched down, feeling the girl's clammy forehead.

"Wait, let me through! Let me through! She's my cousin!"

Looking up, Harry flicked his eyes over to the source of the voice that had spoken – a small, auburn-haired girl in Hufflepuff who was now kneeling down onto the ground beside him. Frowning, the auburn-haired girl had reached over and gathered the fainted girl away from Hermione's arms.

"Sh—she's fine, everyone! She's fine…Probably just the heat! Please _do _go on. I'll take care of her!" She rushed out with a wide, suspiciously nervous smile that Harry certainly did not fail to notice.

"Eh? Do we even _know _this Ravenclaw girl? 'Mione, who is she? What were you even doing with her?" Still clad in his Keeper uniform and padding gear, Ron had strode over to them and crouched down low beside Harry and Hermione. "And while we're on that subject, who is _she?" _He added rudely, gesturing to the gaping auburn-haired girl who was kneeling beside Hermione.

"I—I'm…Abigail…" The auburn-haired girl looked nervously from Hermione to Ron a few times but then, Harry suddenly spoke again and he drew their attention back to the girl who had fainted.

"She doesn't look too good." Unconsciously, Harry's eyes softened as he reached down and gently brushed a stray strand of the fainted girl's hair away from her face. "I think we'd better take her back to your room, Hermione…Let her rest up on the couch there. The hospital wing is too far away anyway." He suggested as he stood back up, carefully gathering the fainted girl into his arms.

Nodding, Hermione gestured to Ron as well and then indicated for the auburn-haired girl to follow them. "Right… Come on Abigail, you're coming with us. Dumbledore said I wasn't supposed to let you out of my sight." She reminded her, causing the other girl to sigh and nod back slowly.

"Come on then." Harry turned around and nodded slowly to the rest of his teammates. "Good job at practice today, guys. You all go on ahead; I'll catch up with you during dinner." He told them with an easy grin, watching as they shrugged and began heading off in the direction of the Great Hall.

As soon as they were gone, Abigail followed the Gryffindor trio quickly down the corridor until they had reached the entrance to the Head Girl dormitory. After Hermione had let them in, Harry deposited the girl gently onto the couch facing the fireplace and Abigail knelt on the floor next to her.

"Hailene…" She tapped the other girl's cheek gently, trying to wake her up. "Come on, Hailene…Wake up! We can't afford to do this right now." Abigail whispered softly, her cheeks flushed.

Harry knelt down next to her and gave her a reassuring smile. "Here…Let me." He placed a hand on the unconscious girl's forehead to feel her temperature. "Could you charm me a small cup of water?" He asked, wincing when he felt the girl's clammy skin. Nodding, Abigail reached hastily into her pockets and pulled out a vial – filling it with an 'aguamenti' spell before she handed it to Harry.

Without waiting for anyone to react, Harry splashed the water right into the fainted girl's face.

"_HEY—" _Abigail had stiffened indignantly as she now glared back at him in accusation. Before Harry could explain, they heard Ron exclaiming loudly from where he was standing over them.

"Hey it worked! She's _awake!_ She's fine! 'Mione! Over here!" Ron gestured frantically for Hermione to join them just as the Head Girl had finished preparing a warm, clean wash cloth.

The tense expressions on Harry and Abigail's face relaxed and the two students leaned back and watched as the girl who had fainted suddenly opened her eyes, staring blankly at all of them. Sighing in relief, Hermione rushed over to her and knelt down, wiping the water off the girl's face.

As she did this, Harry finally turned and addressed Abigail directly for the first time. "I've never seen you two before…" He paused and fused his eyebrows together in question. "What are your names…?" He asked her, watching curiously as Abigail stiffened and bit her lip in awkward silence.

"I'm Abigail…This is Hailene…We're from…" She turned to Hermione for help but the Head Girl gave her a pointed glare before she turned quickly to answer Harry instead. "They're exchange students, Harry!" Hermione told him hastily, ignoring the look of disbelief she got from Ron. "Dumbledore assigned me to take care of them and to take them under my wing for the next few days. They're from—" She paused and looked at Abigail again for help but fortunately, Abigail answered.

"—we're from _Sapientia's School for the Elite, _it's a rather exclusive private school far from here. We're only staying in Hogwarts for a few weeks. You know…Just some friendly inter-school interaction." She laughed nervously when Harry and Ron continued to stare at her in confusion.

Then, shrugging, Ron just grinned and walked over to Hermione's food counter. "Alright, I guess that makes sense." He grabbed an apple off the counter, much to Hermione's annoyed reaction. "Welcome to Hogwarts then…Happy to have you here. Want some friendly advice?" Ron bit into the apple loudly, chewed for a couple of seconds, before he continued. "Stay _away _from the Slytherins."

Amused, Abigail arched an eyebrow at him and watched as Ron sat down onto the couch opposite the one Hailene was lying on. "…Stay away from the Slytherins?" Abigail asked curiously.

Harry and Hermione were rolling their eyes now but Ron grinned at her again and nodded.

"Yep…Just _stay away _from the whole lot of them. Especially Malfoy, stay _far _away from Malfoy as you can. The bloody prick is about as dangerous as Hogwarts can get, he's nothing but trouble—"

"Oh don't listen to him, Abigail." Harry laughed as he cut through his best friend's tirade by flinging a pillow over at hm. "No one here at Hogwarts is dangerous at all, it's a perfectly good school. You're safe to roam around the halls at night." He told her but Ron only answered him with a scoff.

"Mind you, that came from _Harry Potter, _the boy-who-bloody-cannot-keep-away-from-danger." He kidded and this time, he earned a genuine laugh from Abigail and a glare from Harry.

"_Shh! _I think Hailene's coming around." Hermione suddenly brought their attention back to her as she examined Hailene's pale face in anticipation. She had been awake for some time but now that she had begun to notice her surroundings, Hailene's eyes were wandering slowly around the room.

As Harry leaned back and watched her carefully, he noticed that the girl Abigail had introduced to them as 'Hailene' was exceptionally beautiful – pale skin, black hair, and a slender figure. Her eyes were the most intense shade of silver he had ever seen. Looking at her, he couldn't help but wonder where he had seen those familiar eyes before. Her features, however, were currently muddled in a mixture of confusion and horror as she blinked and suddenly stared at him for a very long time.

From beside him, Harry felt Ron giving him a sharp nudge.

"Psst! Do you know her from somewhere?" He hissed, earning a distracted shrug from Harry.

"Not that I particularly remember or anything. Why do you ask?" He whispered back to his redheaded best friend but Ron just smirked teasingly at him and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Because it looks as though _she _recognizes _you, _Harry…Are you _sure _she wasn't one of your 'summer flings' or something? Because if she was, you can tell us, mate. We won't judge you—"

The rest of Ron's teasing remark ended up in a snigger when Harry just growled and nudged him back sharply in annoyance. "Will you grow up, Ron?" He snapped, causing Ron to laugh harder.

Just as Ron was going to answer him, both boys turned to Hailene again just as she was coming around. She was still staring very intently at Harry, however, and ignoring Abigail's insistent prodding to get her attention, the first words out of her mouth shocked the Gryffindors into silence.

"…_M—Mom?"_

"…"

Ron looked around the room in confusion – initially thinking that Hailene had been referring to either Hermione or Abigail. When he saw that Hailene was still looking at Harry, however, his eyes went as wide as saucers and he looked torn between laughing hysterically and scratching his head.

Hermione glanced repeatedly back and forth between Harry and Hailene. "Hailene, what—"

"_MOM!"_

Harry's eyes bugged as Hailene was still staring directly at him, her wide eyes taking in his face. Laughing nervously and yet feeling a surge of irritation when he saw the way Hermione, Ron and even Abigail were trying to keep straight faces; Harry began to grit his teeth and answered calmly.

"I'm…_not…_your mother…And _you_…are obviously delusional—" He was about to stand back up from where he was still kneeling near the couch but Hailene spoke again, latching tightly onto his arm.

"H—hey! What the bloody—let go of me! Let go!" Harry blurted out and he tried to yank his arm away, much to Ron's amusement again as he burst into another round of poorly muffled sniggers.

"_Mom? _I—is that you?" Hailene croaked out weakly again and this time, to Harry's mortification, she cupped his cheeks and pulled him close – examining his face ridiculously close.

Again, at Ron choked-up laughter, Harry reddened very brightly and he tried to pull away.

"I am _not _your mother, you crazy girl!" He tried to pull back again but to his horror, Hailene suddenly jumped at him and placed both of her pale hands right on his chest. "_WHAT ARE YOU—"_

"M—Merlin's Beard!" Hailene gasped and cried out, pounding her fists against his chest again before she flicked wide, hysterical eyes back up and stared at an ashen-faced Abigail beside Hermione. "Abigail, she's a guy! I—I mean…Look at her! She doesn't have any _breasts! _She's a male, she's a—"

"_BLOODY HELL!" _Harry's ears were positively as red as a tomato now as he shoved Hailene off him and jumped up, seething with humiliation amidst Ron's hysterical laughter. "_ARE YOU MENTAL? _What did I _ever _do to you? Do I _look _like your bloody mother? Or better yet, do I look like a bloody _woman?_" Harry's voice broke in his embarrassment and his eyes were flashing as he glared at her.

With wide eyes and slack jaws, Hailene and Abigail stared at him in stunned, awkward silence.

"…"

"_LOOK!_" Admittedly, Harry was beginning to lose his patience – and it didn't help that Ron was practically rolling around the carpeted floor in his laughter and Hermione was doing nothing else but watch the scene in confusion. "I don't know if you're just a delusional loony or you're recovering from the effects of a particularly nasty potion but it's obvious, you're not thinking clearly—" Harry's left eye twitched irritably when Abigail cut him off, silencing his tirade with a sheepish, apologetic smile.

"I—I understand, Aunt Har—_I mean! Harry!" _She winced and hastily corrected herself again when Harry's eyes had narrowed at the word 'Aunt'. "Hailene is just suffering a very…_very _bad case of homesickness…It's nothing a little rest can't cure! Right, Hale?" She turned to her cousin again with a nervous smile but Hailene was looking as though she hadn't heard a single word Abigail had said.

In fact, Hailene was doing nothing else but stare at Harry as though she had never seen another human being before in her life. "…M—Mom?" She croaked out again, her voice breaking.

She tried to reach both hands once more for Harry's face but when Harry's only reaction was to growl and shove her away again, Abigail caught the hands Hailene was reaching out for his face and hastily pulled the other girl up to her feet.

"See? Really homesick, she's starting to get all these hallucinations! I should take her upstairs for some rest, I really should! Aunt—I mean! _Hermione! _Where are our rooms? Where do we stay?" Gathering her whimpering, trembling cousin into her arms, Abigail looked back up at Hermione and waited as the confused Head Girl wordlessly pointed her up in the direction of the guest bedrooms.

"Right! We'll manage!" Abigail rushed out, gathering Hailene into her arms again when it looked as though she was reaching both of her hands back out towards Harry's chest. "Come on Hale… That's too much excitement for you for one day!" She blurted out, giving Harry a sheepish smile.

"See you guys later!"

Laughing nervously, Abigail ignored Harry and Hermione's matching, shell-shocked expressions as she dragged Hailene hurriedly up the stairs, ignoring the other girl's protests until they reached the entrance to the guest bedrooms. As soon as the doors had closed and Harry and Hermione were left with nothing else but the sound of Ron's wheezing laughter on the floor, Harry finally turned around slowly and stared at Hermione with a blank, confused expression on his face.

"…What just happened back there, 'Mione?"

He could see that the befuddled expression on his face was mirrored on his best friend's.

"I don't think I even want to know, Harry."

* * *

Gabriel found himself edging closer to his twin brother as the two of them followed Draco down a maze of dungeon corridors leading to the Slytherin Common Room. In his nervousness, he forced himself to walk faster after Garrett and leaned over to hiss something at him in parseltongue.

"_Where are we?"_

Smirking at the agitation he heard in his twin brother's voice, Garrett patted Sylens from where the snake had coiled itself comfortably around his neck before he answered. _"Relax…We're just headed for the Slytherin Common Room. Corridors are cold and dark but otherwise perfectly safe." _He answered, chuckling when even Sylens seemed to look amused at Gabriel's growing nervousness.

"Well, I can't help it. I don't _like _the dungeons! Bloody cold and gloomy and—" He nearly jumped when he heard a loud, low-voiced scream from the opposite end of the corridor. "Did you _hear _that?" Gabriel's voice was high-pitched and panicky as he turned to Garrett in horror. "What was—"

"Relax, Riel…" Garrett looked like he was trying to hide a smile. "That was just the Bloody Baron being a prat again, as usual…He always does that." Without meaning to, Garrett began to laugh. "Merlin, you would think you weren't a Gryffindor…You're a bloody coward. _I'm_ supposed to be the cowardly Slytherin here, not you." He kidded, earning a particularly nasty glare from his twin brother.

"I am _not _a coward."

"You are too a stuffy coward"

"Arrogant Slytherin prick."

"Self-righteous Gryffindork."

"Slimy-haired git."

Ignoring Gabriel's last comment, Garrett looked particularly smug as he followed Draco further down the corridor until they reached the sealed entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. Gabriel was still scowling as he trailed after them but eventually, his curiosity got the better of him and he began to look around – his eyes going wide as he saw the Slytherin Common Room for the very first time.

He remembered his mother warning him once that the dungeons were a particularly cold and dark place to be in but truth be told, looking at the Slytherin Common Room now – he actually had to admit that it didn't seem that way at all. In fact, the place looked quite homey – with large and plush wing-backed chairs and large, roaring fireplaces that bathed the room in a warm, yellowish glow.

Looking further around, he saw that most of the younger Slytherins were huddled by a large study table near some bookshelves situated at the corner of the room while the older Slytherins – particularly the sixth and seventh years – were seated near the large fireplace in the middle of the area. In the very center rug, directly a few meters in front of the fireplace, stood the largest wing-backed chair overlooking the entire Common Room and he knew immediately, it was a place of honor.

"Garrett…" Gabriel nudged his older brother lightly in the ribs again as they followed Draco across the room, trying to ignore the intense stares they were receiving from the other Slytherin students seated around the room. "What's that chair for? Who gets to sit there?" He asked curiously.

Following his gaze, Garrett suddenly scowled when he realized what Gabriel was referring to. Rolling his eyes, Garrett answered in a low whisper. "The 'High Seat'…where the leader of the Slytherins sits…The leader isn't appointed by choice…It's more of…_implied…_" Garrett's scowl deepened even more and Gabriel noticed that his twin brother was beginning to grit his teeth in growing anger.

Looking at him, Gabriel fused his eyebrows together in question. "How is it implied…?"

Sneering, Garrett rolled his eyes and shook his head. "It's not set in stone, really…Sometimes, the 'leader' is really just the one who earns the entire House's respect and loyalty. That was where You-Know-Who sat once before, you know…" He mentioned idly, causing Gabriel's eyes to widen.

"And…now…?"

Instead of answering, Garrett looked up across the room again, his eyes growing wide in surprise. Following his gaze, Gabriel looked up as well and the two of them both watched in amazement as their father, without any hesitation whatsoever, calmly sat down onto the 'High Seat'.

"Whoa." Gabriel's eyes were wide and even Garrett couldn't help but watch in amazement as Draco merely nodded at some of the greetings given to him by some of the other nearby Slytherins. Then, when he noticed that Gabriel and Garrett were still staring uncertainly at him from where they were standing awkwardly by the Common Room entrance, Draco smirked and gestured them over.

Feeling awkward as he felt the rest of the Slytherins' eyes on him, Gabriel hastily glanced down to make sure he was still wearing the Slytherin uniform Draco had lent him before he allowed Garrett to lead him over to where Draco was seated. As they walked across the room, however, it was obvious that even Garrett felt uneasy amidst all of the other Slytherins' quiet gazes upon them.

"Garrett…" Gabriel leaned in close to his older brother again just as they were passing by a group of Slytherin fifth years who were seated near the Common Room entrance. "In our time…You know…the future… Who…" He paused and glanced at Garrett, noting his strangely tense expression.

"Who sits on the 'High Seat' in Slytherin?"

Garrett was silent for a moment, as though he couldn't force himself to speak. Finally, when he looked back at Gabriel to answer, Gabriel was surprised to hear the defeat in his brother's voice.

"…_Parker Skeffington."_

"…"

Gabriel fell silent, unable to think of anything to say to this so instead, he just watched Garrett's expression carefully, noting the tenseness of his brother's features. He had always known that Garrett had been at war with Parker Skeffington since they had started Hogwarts, but he never realized the intensity of the whole issue. If anything, that just reminded him that he hadn't been spending enough time with his own twin brother lately – and at that, Gabriel felt even worse.

Fortunately, however, Gabriel was saved from the need to reply when at that moment, just as they had reached the middle of the room where Draco was seated with an entire group of Slytherin seventh years; the Malfoy Heir had addressed them again and brought their attention back to him.

"Well, sit down." Draco drawled, indicating lazily to the couch that was situated at his left side.

Flushing under the gazes of the other seventh-years behind Draco – particularly those of his Uncle Blaise and Aunt Pansy – Gabriel swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to get comfortable. Beside him, Garrett was scowling again and glaring at Draco with a glint of dislike in his green eyes.

Thankfully, Draco didn't seem to notice.

"So…Draco—"

Garrett and Gabriel's attention were drawn to the voice of the familiar Slytherin who had spoken – that of Blaise Zabini, their father's best friend and Garrett's very own legal godfather. "—who are these two and what are you doing with them? I don't think I've ever seen them around school before." Blaise mentioned with a smirk, looking amused at Garrett and Gabriel's doe-eyed expressions.

At his remark, Draco just scoffed and glanced distractedly at the fireplace in front of him. "I don't want to talk about it, Blaise…You wouldn't believe what that old Crackpot Dumbledore has me doing this time." He grumbled, rolling his eyes as he flicked his gaze back lazily over at the twins.

"Which one of you is which, again?" Draco asked irritably, arching an eyebrow as he glanced back and forth between the twins in annoyance. Sighing, Gabriel gave his brother a quelling glare when it looked as though Garrett was going to snap back, and answered Draco's question instead.

"I'm Gabriel…And this is my brother, Garrett…" He replied, watching Draco uncertainly.

Draco stroked his chin in thought and he couldn't help smirking as he eyed Gabriel and Garrett again. "Hmm…You look _awfully _familiar…I just can't figure out why." He thought out loud to himself.

Before either of the twins could respond, however, Pansy suddenly spoke from where she was seated beside Blaise just a few meters away from Draco. "Well, _I _think you two are _very _handsome." She gave Garrett a wide saccharine smile, which Garrett responded to with a very awkward grimace.

"U—uhm…_Thanks…_" He muttered under his breath, ignoring Gabriel's snort of muffled laughter.

_"For all your father's intelligence and being Head Boy…_" Gabriel and Garrett both turned and glanced down at Sylens just as he had slithered up Garrett's arm. _"He's certainly not very bright now considering that he's practically looking at a mirror of himself." _The snake whispered in parseltongue.

Gabriel held back a laugh at this while Garrett just smirked but looked away, not wanting Draco or any of the Slytherins to notice their expressions. Eventually enough, however, the attention surrounding them began to die down. After some time, Draco was effectively distracted from asking them any more questions when a blonde Slytherin girl from sixth-year had suddenly walked up to him, situating herself on the Head Boy's lap and wrapping her arms around his neck with a flirtatious smile.

"Hey Draco…" The blonde fluttered her lashes coyly at him as she smiled again and adjusted her seating position so that she was practically straddling his lap. "I'm not doing anything this afternoon…" She began, pretending to bite her lip when Draco arched an eyebrow in amusement.

"Is that so…?" Draco's eyes narrowed in lust as he swept his gaze over her form, appreciatively noting the lowered neckline of her school blouse. "What are you suggesting, Ashley?" He drawled calmly, smirking even wider when 'Ashley's' only response was to smile seductively at him.

Leaning down, she let her lips linger teasingly along the outer shell of his ear. "Oh I think you know, Draco…" She whispered, much to Pansy's anger from where she had witnessed the whole scene.

"Ashley, would you get yourself off him? I thought you already knew he was mine!" She screeched, earning a scoff of derision from Ashley as she looked away from Draco and smirked at her.

"Oh? And here I thought that Draco was just drunk that night, weren't you love?" She giggled again when Draco just looked amused at their conversation and answered her with a lazy smile. Behind him, Blaise was rolling his eyes and had turned back to his Potions book in obvious boredom.

"Oh give it a rest, Pans…We both know Draco's not the type to settle down anytime soon and truth be told, this is really getting old." Blaise scoffed at her, rolling his eyes and sighing in annoyance.

"Oh it's not that I'm afraid to settle down, Zabini…But let's just say…I'm still waiting for the right girl—mmm…" Draco let his voice trail off as he allowed Ashley to straddle him again and pull him into a deep, heated kiss. When they broke apart, he shrugged and smirked back at Pansy and Blaise.

"—but then again, that doesn't mean I can't have some fun along the way, right?" Draco ignored Pansy's stammered protests as he allowed Ashley to pull him up from his seat by his tie. "I'll be right back you guys…But don't wait up." He winked at Blaise, who simply grinned back at him.

Under normal circumstances, Blaise would have managed to say something witty back to him but at that moment – just as Draco was following Ashley back up to her room – only Gabriel seemed to have realized that Garrett was positively _seething _in fury. The older Malfoy son had already jumped to his feet, his muscles tense and his teeth bared as he stalked angrily towards his clueless father.

Knowing exactly what was going to happen, Gabriel meeped and jumped up from the couch.

"_GARRETT, DON'T DO IT!"_

"_HE'S A WOMANIZING PRICK, RIEL! I CAN'T JUST LET HIM GET AWAY WITH IT!"_

_ "WE'RE NOT ALLOWED TO INTERFERE!"_

_ S_mirking and completely unaware of the situation, Draco had turned around at the sound of Gabriel's panicked, high-pitched yelp and looked up – just in time to see a fist coming right at his face.

In his shock, all Draco managed to do was to blink back stupidly at Garrett in confusion.

"What the bloody—"

_**SHMACK!**_

Gabriel's eyes widened in disbelief as he watched his father fall into an unconscious heap on the floor. Immediately, Pansy and Blaise had rushed over to Draco in panic but unfortunately, Garrett didn't appear to be finished yet, and turning back around, he was now sneering angrily at Ashley.

The girl his father had been kissing…but she _wasn't _his mother.

Yanking his wand out of his pocket, Garrett ignored the rest of Gabriel's protests and pointed his wand directly at Ashley's cowering figure. "Let me show you what I think of girls like you."

"_GARRETT, NOOOOO—"_

As soon as the jinx had left his mouth, Garrett laughed gleefully and grinned as a sobbing Ashley – who was now tearfully covering her acne-covered face with her hands – fled from the room.

Groaning, Gabriel fell back onto the couch and dropped his head pitifully into his hands.

Now their father was _really _going to kill them when they get back home.

* * *

**A/N: **Awww… Who can blame Garrett, really? It's a horrible thing to see your father like that. *smirks* Oh by the way everyone…Just to clarify…This story will end BEFORE the events of TPG take place, alright? It will be _impossible _for me to intersect that time line, I'll have to rewrite the entire series for that to happen otherwise. *cringe* Hahaha. So… Who's excited for the next chapter? :D

**Next Chapter: **Hailene and Abigail with the Gryffindors in classes, the twins with the Slytherins in classes, and perhaps some (past) HP/DM interaction! :D

**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! PEACE, LOVE, AND ALL THAT JAZZ! TILL NEXT TIME! :D**


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